RPM: The Last Stand
by Lily Hanson
Summary: It's the year 2026. Venjix is attacking Corinth city. Kaylee's new team of Rangers must fight against his army of robots to protect the last little bit of humanity. This is the final stand agaisnt evil. Who will win?
1. Road To Corinth

_Author's Note: I do not own RPM or any of the characters, but I do own Kaylee, Hayden and Michael._

_Now, for the long awaited RPM. I hope you all enjoy!_

* * *

"_A computer virus has built armies of robotic soldiers and taken control of our world. But there are still two places we can be safe, the domed cities of Newtech, and Corinth. And the only hope we have left is to protect these two cities from destruction. We currently have heroes risking their lives to stop Venjix from taking over. A team of Rangers in Newtech is fighting off Morgana, hoping to keep her away from the communications, defence and power system in Corinth, but Venjix got past their army. He's threatening our city. If he succeeds, we're all doomed, even Newtech. Our fate, the fate of the world, the fate of our generation, and the generations to come, rests in the hands of our five heroes."_

-----RPM-----

"_Listen carefully, okay. We don't have a lot of time. It started three years ago. The world's internet federation reported the appearance of an aggressive new computer virus. The Venjix Virus. A year later, it was estimated that Venjix took control of the world's computer systems. By then, it was too late. Venjix tried to take control of the world's power, communication and defence systems, and nearly succeeded. But he missed the world's main operating system. Corinth City. Venjix built armies of robotic soldiers that laid waste to everything in their path. Former Rangers have tried stopping them, but were forced to retreat and retire. There was no stopping the army, and Venjix declared victory. But thanks to Kaylee Brooks, we still have hope. If you can hear my voice, please go now to the domed cities of Corinth, or Newtech. They are the _**only**_ two places you can be safe. But you have to make it inside the city walls before the defence shields are activated. Please, hurry."_

Explosions could be seen everywhere as a military group escorted thousands of civilians inside the walls to Corinth City, hoping their friends in Newtech were doing the same. As the civilians ran for their lives, soldiers were firing lasers at computer-controlled guns, powered by Venjix.

"Colonel Truman," one of the soldiers called frantically, running up to his boss and standing beside him.

"Easy, son," the colonel frowned. "Get yourself together and give me a proper report."

The colonel didn't seem fazed by the screams of the people, but that could have been due to his calm voice and the sunglasses covering his eyes... or maybe it was because he had lead the military through several evacuations in the past and had seen enough people die to become numb to the entire experience.

"Yes, sir," the soldier said. "They've broken through the west corridor into Zone Delta, sir. We can't hold them off."

The colonel took off his sunglasses and turned to the soldier.

"The Eagle Squad?"

"We lost all contact with them a while ago," the soldier reported sadly. He knew the colonel's sons were working with the Eagle Squad, and he hated being the bearer of bad news. "Sir?" he called when the colonel didn't answer.

"Go shoot at something," the colonel frowned, dismissing his soldier.

"Sir, yes, sir," the soldier turned in the other direction then stopped for a second, wondering if he should apologize to the colonel. He decided against, knowing that duty came before personal matters.

Nearby, a bus was driving into the city, carrying a load full of civilians. The driver stopped when he reached the city walls, and opened the door.

"All right!" he said, in a strong Scottish accent, as he picked up a destroyed Grinder from the few steps leading up to the bus.

Two women approached the bus just as he tossed the useless metal out the doors, and he turned to the two kids in the front seat. "Alright, this'll be your stop little lass," he told the small girl.

He picked her up and gave her to the first woman. She thanked him, taking her daughter in her arms, and walked off. The other woman watched her run inside the city walls then turned to the nineteen year old Scotsman, looking at the morpher on his wrist.

"Good job here, Flynn," she smiled, "And without needing to morph. I knew I was right in choosing you."

"Well, ya can't keep a good Ranger down," Flynn smirked. "You should know that, Kaylee."

Kaylee nodded as she tapped the side of the bus.

"Take them inside. I'll wait here for the others to get back. The colonel's not going to be happy if he loses either one of his sons."

"Especially seeing as you're responsible for both of them," Flynn smirked as he hopped back in his seat and shut the bus doors. Kaylee stepped back as the bus sped off, inside the city.

"Thanks for reminding me," Kaylee groaned.

As Flynn approached the barriers, the colonel stepped out onto the road, forcing the blue Ranger to slam on the breaks. When the bus came to a full stop, the colonel walked up to the door and frowned.

"Lion One, why are you back without the rest of your team?" he asked.

"The team'll be joining me soon," Flynn smirked. "Hopefully they can make it back in one piece, like me."

The colonel looked to the front of the bus as the bumper fell off. Flynn frowned before turning back to the colonel.

"Okay, well, maybe in pieces. But at least we made it back!"

In the distance, both Flynn and the Colonel could hear a woman screaming.

"Get these people out of here!" the colonel ordered. Flynn nodded.

"I'll get myself out of here too, if you don't mind."

As the bus drove off, the colonel looked into the distance and saw an army of Grinders approaching the city.

"Fall back!" he yelled. "Everyone inside the city walls now!"

The soldiers obeyed his command, taking every civilian they could with them.

Once everyone was inside, the colonel called out to one of the soldiers.

"Stand by to raise the shields!"

"But sir," the soldier frowned. "You sons and the Rangers... they're still-"

"On my signal!" the colonel interrupted.

Kaylee, who has just arrived inside the city, overheard him and frowned.

"Colonel! Most of the Rangers are still out there!" she yelled. "We can't leave them!"

"Seal all city gates!" the colonel yelled out. "Raise the shields."

The soldier pulled out a walkie-talkie. "Seal all city gates. Activate the defences on all areas."

As the doors closed, Kaylee noticed two motorcycles in the distance. One had two passengers; the other had only the driver. It struck her as odd that only three of the four missing Rangers were returning, but she was just happy most of them were getting home safe. That is, if they made it passed the doors, which were slowly coming down.

The driver on the black and pink motorcycle jumped off and rolled passed the doors, stopping at Kaylee's feet.

The other two were still too far to make the same jump.

"Hang on!" the driver called out to her passenger as she turned the bike on its side, hoping to slide under the doors like her team-mate had done, but a little faster.

Kaylee was shocked to see her niece had made it, without killing herself, or whichever of the Truman sons she had with her.

The door closed, and the city was back to its holographic perfection. The sky was back to blue, with very few fluffy, white clouds, hiding the warzone on the other side of the dome.

The motorcyclist with the pink helmet stood up beside Kaylee and removed her helmet.

"That was totally awesome!" she called, hugging the former Ranger, "Can we do it again?"

"No," Kaylee frowned. "You may be able to heal, but I'm still worried sick about you! And I'm sure your father is too."

"Details," the girl shrugged.

The other two Rangers took off their helmets. Summer turned to her friend and smirked. "See, I told you I could do it."

"Eagle Two," the colonel called as he approached his son. Though both the colonel's sons were no longer a part of his army, he still called them by their code names. "Where is Eagle One?"

Kaylee walked up beside the colonel and put a hand on his shoulder as a tear ran down her cheek.

"Eagle One is down, sir," Eagle Two, Scott, reported, handing Kaylee a Black morpher.

Father and son exchanged looks, before Scott spoke up.

"He's gone."

"Dismissed," the colonel said in a low voice, shrugging off Kaylee's hand as he walked away. Scott watched his father, hoping for some comfort, but none came.

Summer approached her friend and pulled him into a hug.

"Scott, I'm so sorry," Kaylee said as she joined the hug. "I didn't want this to happen when I asked you to join..."

"It's not your fault," Scott said as he looked up to the blue sky. "It would have happened either way. Rangers or not. Army or not. He still would have gone after the Grinders."

"I could have saved him," the girl in pink sighed as she traced a cut on her arm, which was slowly healing.

"Hayden," Summer frowned. "You saved thousands of people today. One more drop of blood and it could have been you lying on the battle field!"

"I could have tried!" Hayden yelled. "My life comes last! That's my job! It's our job!"

"That's why he had to go! Sacrifice is with an 'I'. There is no 'u'. There's no Hayden. You did what you could."

"I... still... we lost one Ranger today," Hayden looked up at her mother. "Who's going to be RPM Black now?"

"I don't know..." Kaylee sighed. "I really don't know."

"Aunt Kaylee!"

Kaylee turned around and saw her nephew, wearing his dark Green RPM suit, without the helmet. Mike was running towards her, holding a young boy in his hands.

"Aunt Kaylee! He can't find his parents," Mike put the boys down, and he instantly clung to Kaylee's leg. "He says they died."

Kaylee noticed the boy was the same one Flynn had brought home in the bus.

"His parents must have passed away during the attack," she told the Rangers, "If the Grinders could only leave us alone! One week of peace! It's all I'm asking!"

Kaylee ran a hand through her hair as her daughter picked up the small boy, who was crying at this point.

"Shh, it's okay big guy," Hayden whispered. "You're going to be okay."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a badge.

"You see this?" she asked the toddler. "It's my Ranger badge. You're safe as long as you're with me."

The boy nodded as he wrapped his little arms around her neck and buried his head in her shoulder.

"What's your name, kiddo?" Summer asked, placing a hand on his back.

"Christian," the boys whispered. "Christian Samuels."

"Aunt Kaylee, he needs a home. We can't leave him like this," Mike frowned.

"I can talk to my dad," Scott offered. "He might be able to find parents for the boy."

"No," Kaylee said. "Your father has enough to deal with. He just lost a son. I'm not about to burden him with a parent-less one."

"But-"

"I'll take him... for now at least."

"Really?" Hayden asked. "Don't you have to ask dad?"

"I'm sure he'll understand," Kaylee smiled, taking the boy from her daughter. "After all, this ain't permanent."

Hayden nodded, turning to the team.

"Where's Flynn?" she asked. "He was supposed to drive the bus back into the city."

"Right here, lass!" Flynn smiled, dropping his hands on Hayden's shoulders, causing the young girl to jump.

"Rangers," Kaylee called. "Head home, all five of you."

-----RPM-----

Three months later, a young man was driving in his car. He pulled to a stop and stepped out as he poured the last of his water into his mouth. He then walked to his trunk and found another water bottle. He was about to drink it when he noticed a yellow flower in the middle of the desert.

"Well, well, looks like it's just you and me."

Forgetting about his thirst, he poured the rest of the water onto the flower, hoping it could survive the polluted air and the intense heat.

When the flower's thirst was quenched, the boy pulled out a map, hoping to find one of the two domed cities. He popped a yellow sucker into his mouth as he read the compass, failing to notice another young man approaching him.

"Hold it right there!"

The boy went to turn around, but the voice yelled again.

"Eyes in front!" it yelled. "Hands up!"

The boy pulled the lollipop out of his mouth as he raised his hands, and dropped it into the sand.

"Okay, now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way," the voice told him. "I'm going to count-"

"No."

"Wait... what no?" the voice asked. "I haven't even told you my demands yet! Now you made me lose my train of thought."

"You wanna start over?" the boy offered.

"No... no, let's just... let's keep going," the voice said. "Uh... um... I need to take your car. Well, let's say borrow. I need to borrow your car. Okay, that sounds better."

The boy laughed.

"And those are your demands?"

"Yeah. Non-negotiable."

"Can I say something now?"

"Sure!"

"No!"

Though the boy couldn't see who was talking to him, he was sure the person was frowning.

"Okay, you see, that's fine. Now I wasn't going to bring this up, because it's kinda rude, but _I'm_ the one holding the blaster here! Plus I'm a desperate and dangerous-"

"You're not holding a blaster," the boy cut off the voice, turning his head slightly.

"I think I am! What else would it be?"

"It feels like a four and a half inch outtake muffler. Kinda like the one you _might_ have pulled off that rig over there."

The boy nodded his head in one direction.

"Maybe... I mean, that's an interesting _theory_ but a smart guy like me, he might, uh, he might disguise this blaster-"

The boy turned around and slammed his fist down on the muffler, knocking it out of his attacker's hands. The attacker, who was slightly smaller than he was, stepped back.

"Okay! Not the face!" the attacker yelled, putting his hands in front of his face as the boy approached him.

"Do you have any food, water, or gas?" the boy asked, grabbing the bag his attacker had dropped.

"Um, no, that's some of the other stuff I was planning to _borrow_ from you."

The boy threw the bag into the attacker's arms as he walked to his car.

"Wait," the attack yelled. "Where are you going? You can't leave me here!"

He spotted the map on the boy's car and smiled, "The cities! You're looking for one of the domed cities."

"I don't need your help," the boy said.

"You know, it's very hard to find your way," the attacker smirked. "Fortunately for you, I can take you to Corinth."

"If you knew where Corinth was, you would be there," the boy said.

"I was! I just came from there!" the attacker pulled out an ID citizen card. The boy took it and read it.

"Ziggy? Your name is Ziggy?"

"Yeah," the attacker, Ziggy, smiled.

"Is it short for something, like Ziggster, or Ziguardo?"

"Nope... just Ziggy."

"Well, watcha doing out here, Ziguardo?"

"It's a long story," Ziggy started as he walked over to the passenger's side of the car. "And I would be happy to tell you the whole thing on the way... or maybe I could just get in and keep my mouth shut." Ziggy corrected himself when he saw the look the boy was giving him.

"Yeah. The second one."

Ziggy made it two minutes in the car before words started falling out of his mouth again.

"So, you still haven't told me your name yet," he said, looking over at his new friend... or what he hoped was a friend.

"I don't know."

"You don't know if you wanna tell me your name?"

"I don't know my name."

"Well, where are you from? I mean, who are you then?"

"I don't know."

"You know," Ziggy dropped the relaxed look and leaned in closer to the boy. "If we're going to be partners, I feel like we should work on our communications... OH WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!"

The boy slammed hard on the breaks and opened the window as Ziggy pointed to a large dome.

"See, Ziggy promises, Ziggy delivers," Ziggy smirked. "That right there, is Corinth."

"Are you going to shut up now, Ziguardo?" the boy asked.

"Okay... but um, I just have one more thing," Ziggy said. "You might wanna pull off the road and wait until it gets dark..."

"We can't stop," the boy said.

"What?" Ziggy frowned.

"We're running low on fuel," the boy explained. "If I kill the engine, we might never get it started again."

"No... this is a joke, right?" Ziggy asked. "You're not serious."

But the boy was. He put the pedal to the metal as he sped off, down the dirt road, towards the city.

"Okay, stop, time out!" Ziggy yelled desperately. "We need a reality check! No one has ever run the barricade into the city, during daylight!"

"Well, I'm as close to no one as you're ever going to meet!" the boy smirked.

"Okay, well you can just drop me off right here," Ziggy stuck his head out the window, hoping the boy was going to stop. "Or here, or here. THERE! Oh... that spot would have been really good!"

As he watched his "spot" fade into the background, he noticed a bunch of Grinders on motorcycles behind the car.

"Hey, it's the perimeter patrol. And they are right on top of us!"

He stuck his head back into the car and turned to the boy.

"Hand me that," the boy ordered, looking down at Ziggy's feet. Ziggy looked down as well, but spotted a bunch of junk.

"What? This?" he asked, holding up a spoon. "Or this?" he held up a screwdriver. "Can you be more specifc?" He held up a wrench, "Or this?"

After getting no answer from the boy, he looked down at the last thing at his feet: an unwrapped yellow sucker.

"You _do not_ mean this?" he asked.

The boy grabbed the sucker, ripped off the plastic and popped it in his mouth. Ziggy watched him in shock.

"Okay! Okay, this isn't happening!" he frowned. "I'm running the Venjix barricade, in broad daylight, with Willy Wonka at the wheel!"

The Grinders started firing lasers at the car, forcing Ziggy into a deeper state of panic.

The boy reached down and grabbed a circular piece of metal. He stuck the sucker onto it before tossing it out the window. The metal landed on a motorcycle and blew it up.

Ziggy looked out the back window, eyes wide.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side."

"Trust me, you're already there," the boy smirked.

Ziggy frowned as he turned back to face the front, only to see a barricade pop up from the sand.

"HOLY SHIT!" he yelled.

Lasers from the barricade started firing at the car, but the boy held on tightly as he tried to make it passed.

"We can still turn back!" Ziggy yelled. "We can still turn back! WE CAN STILL TURN BACK!"

"I thought I told you to shut up!" the boy told him, his voice was still strangely calm.

He threw another piece of metal out the window, never moving his foot over the brakes to stop. It was do, or die.

-----RPM-----

Inside the city, the colonel was sitting at his desk, thinking about his oldest son, as someone approached him.

"Sir, we're picking up an incoming bio signal," the person said, "Outside the dome, sir."

The colonel jumped up from his seat and walked up behind a woman at the computers.

"Tell me about it."

"A single vehicle, driving right up to the middle of the Venjix barricade. Definitely human. One, or maybe two bio fields."

"Well, which is it?" the colonel asked. "One, or two?"

"One... one and a half?"

"Alert Dr. K," the colonel told the first man.

-----RPM-----

"I never learned to play a musical instrument," Ziggy pondered staring at a yellow sucker while the boy beside him continued to throw little circular bombs out the window. The boy seemed to have plenty with him. "I always wanted too, you know. I mean, who knows, I could have been the greatest clarinet player in the world!"

Ziggy suddenly spotted a Grinder right beside him. He reached down and grabbed a bomb, hoping to throw it out the window. He pushed the button to activate it and threw as hard as he could.

The bomb flew straight for the Grinder, until it hit the window and bounced back, landing on Ziggy's lap.

"That's not good, is it?" he asked the boy.

"Throw it, Ziguardo!" the boy yelled.

Ziggy rolled down the window and readied himself to throw the bomb again, but the boy was forced to make a sharp turn, causing Ziggy to lose his grip on the bomb as the little machine made its way into the back seat, out of reach.

"And that's gotta be worse!"

As Ziggy tried reaching for the bomb, the boy spoke.

"Call me Dillon," he said.

"What?"

"My name, you can call me Dillon."

"Is that short for something?" Ziggy mocked. "Like, Dillinson, or Dill Pickles?"

Dillon looked over at Ziggy and frowned.

"Well," Ziggy sighed. "It's been nice knowing you, Dill Pickles."

"Hang on!" Dillon yelled before forcing the car to do a sharp turn. The bomb flew out the open back window. It bounced off a laser pointed at the two boys, then exploded, revealing the domed city.

-----RPM-----

"They made it!" the soldier announced.

The colonel walked over to the table where a computer sat. On the screen was a giant K.

"Dr. K?"

"Lower the shields!" the animated voice ordered. "And open the gate please, colonel."

"There is going to be infiltration before we can power the shield back up," the colonel reminded the doctor.

"I know. The Rangers are on the way."

"Can't have a fight without me!" Kaylee smiled as she walked into the room, holding Ducky in one hand, and a bowl of popcorn in the other. "I love me some new, old re-runs of the good old days."

The colonel figured Dr. K must have alerted Kaylee and shrugged her sudden appearance off. Working with her for the past three years, he had seen weirder.

-----RPM-----

Dillon's car finally arrived inside the city, but the Grinder's weren't far behind. Leading them was a monster, which resembled the butt of a car, with a horn sticking out of its head. At least, that's what Kaylee called it.

Dillon and Ziggy looked down, hoping to throw another bomb, but realised they had run out.

"Uh, problem!" Ziggy called out.

Suddenly, a blonde girl in a pink jacket, and a boy with black hair and a black jacket, trimmed in a dark green color appeared on both sides of the car.

"You guys okay?" the girl asked.

"Of course they're okay, Hayden," the boy smiled. "You're not the one behind the wheel."

Hayden flashed the boy a menacing look before turning back to the passengers.

"Stay here, don't move."

"Wait!" Ziggy called as the two ran away, joining three more teens, all wearing black jackets with different coloured outline. One boy had red, another boy had blue, and the other girl had yellow. So far, the girl in pink was the only one in a pink jacket with black trimming.

"Ready?" the one in red called.

"READY!"

"RPM, get in gear!"

As the five Rangers fought off the Grinders, Ziggy and Dillon watched on from the car. Ziggy was excited to see the heroes, while Dillon glared in shock.

"Red, Blue, Yellow, Pink and Dark green!" Ziggy cheered. "Wait... Black... there was a black one! Where is he?"

The monster ran up towards the car, ready to jump on it, when the yellow and pink Rangers jumped down onto the hood. They nodded at each other before the pink one ripped the hood off the car. Ziggy and Dillon could see the metal cutting through her suit and her skin, but she didn't pull her hands back. The pink Ranger... who the boys say was Hayden, continued to pull as her hands started to bleed.

"Just a little more, Hay!" the yellow Ranger encouraged. Suddenly, the hood was torn off and both girls threw it, like a Frisbee, at the monster.

"Oh no!" the monster yelled, taking off in the other direction.

Thankful, Ziggy stuck his head out the window.

"GO RANGERS!" he cheered.

"Wait, go what?" Dillon asked.

"Rangers. Power Rangers."

"What's a Power Ranger?"

**To Be Continued.**


	2. Fade to Black

"_What's a power Ranger?"_

"What do you mean?" Ziggy asked, in complete shock that the man beside him had to ask. "What's a Power Ranger?"

Ziggy pointed to the five heroes in spandex, currently saving their asses, "There, that, them, those... awesomeness!"

Dillon watched the fight as the Red Ranger slashed at the monster with a sabre, sending the car butt flying backwards into a pile of boxes.

The Blue Ranger pulled out a large cannon and aimed at the monster.

"FIRE!"

Both Yellow and Pink attached their weapons into their wrists. Yellow shot hers first.

"Zip charger!" Yellow called as a little car sped out from her weapon, attacking the monster from the ground.

"Surf's up!" Pink exclaimed as a life-sized surfboard emerged from her weapon. She jumped on it and surfed through the air. While the monster was trying to avoid the little car, Hayden aimed herself right for him. When she was at a close distance, she kicked the front of her surfboard up, nailing the monster in the face with the butt of her board.

The monster landed on the ground as Dark Green pointed a handgun at him.

"This one is really going to sting," he said pushing a red button. The monster covered his face with his arms as Dark Green's weapon transformed into a cannon. The four other Rangers steadied the cannon as he fired.

The monster laid defeated on the ground. Ziggy jumped in the air, cheering, before spotting an army of drones flying over the city.

"_Rangers, do you have a visual on the incoming baddudes?"_ Kaylee asked over the in-helmet radio.

Yellow looked over at Pink and shook her head.

"Leave it to Aunt Kaylee to start a sentence seriously, then end it with baddudes."

"Affirmative mom," Pink sighed.

"They would be a bit hard to miss," Blue added.

"I guess it's time to call the Zords," Dark Green said, clapping his hands together before pulling out his morpher. "There's nothing like burning metal in the morning."

"I prefer fried," Yellow smirked.

Red shook his head before activating his Zord.

"Activating Eagle Zord!"

"Activating Blue Lion Zord!"

"Activating Pink Lion Zord!"

"Activating Bear Zord!"

"Activating Dolphin Zord!"

Down on the ground, Ziggy was overjoyed at seeing the Zords in action. All his life he had looked up to Power Rangers, young and old, former or current. He never though he would see one up close, never mind a whole team in a Zord battle.

"You okay there, Ziguardo?" Dillon asked, looking over at his buddy.

"Yeah, why?"

"You look a little green," Dillon smiled. Ziggy smiled back, happy Dillon was showing some kind of friendship. But it was crushed. "I don't want you throwing up on my car."

"Thanks..."

"_Attack formation, delta!"_ came the Red Ranger's voice from inside the Zords.

Blue, Yellow, Dark Green and Pink turned off the path as Red drove forward into the attack. He was attacked by an aerial assault and knew there was only one thing to do.

"_Going airborne!"_ he called, transforming his grounded eagle Zord to a winged one.

As he attacked the enemies in the sky, he left the leadership role to Pink.

"_Blue, clear a path for yellow! D-Green, go shoot at something!"_ Pink called.

"_On it, cuz!"_ Dark Green smirked. _"Aiming lasers at something!"_

Back on the ground, Ziggy was watching the fight before his attention was turned to the army of grinders, setting a laser to attack the Yellow Ranger. He tapped Dillon's shoulder and pointed.

"Dude! They're going to ambush Yellow!"

"I hate Grinders," Dillon groaned, stepping inside his car as Ziggy followed.

"_Yellow, you're taking fire from your three o'clock!"_ Dark Green warned his cousin when he saw she was in trouble.

"_Shoot at them, idiot!"_ Pink scolded.

"_This will not help that fear I have!"_ Yellow yelled.

Dillon tried to get his car started, but with little gas, there wasn't much he could do. He slammed his fist down on the dashboard, and to his surprise, it got the car running.

"Wow..." Ziggy smiled.

Dillon put the car in reverse and drove as fast as he could towards the laser machine.

-----RPM-----

"Sir, they have a lock on Yellow," the woman on the computer called to the colonel.

"Kira's totally going to kill me!" Kaylee groaned. She grabbed her green jacket and ran for the door.

"Where are you going?" the colonel asked.

"You can't keep a good ranger down!" Kaylee yelled.

-----RPM-----

Dillon slammed his car into the laser, changing the target from Yellow to their own army.

The Venjix soldiers retreated as lasers continued to fire at them. The rangers cheered as they jumped out of their Zords and powered down.

Summer noticed the two boys watching the team and walked up to them.

"Hey," she called, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "I don't know how to thank you."

Mike joined her, putting a hand on his shoulder as he shook both Dillon and Ziggy's hands.

"I do, like this, Screamer," he smirked. "Thank you, we owe you big time."

"You can start with some gas, and maybe some water, and I'll be on my way," Dillon smiled.

Kaylee and two soldiers ran up Dillon. Kaylee pulled Summer in a hug, happy she was still alive, while the soldiers each grabbed Dillon and Ziggy.

"Hey, hey, it's cool guys!" Ziggy called out. "I'm tight with Mr. Hero himself and well..."

The soldiers scanned Dillon with a metal detector, realising he was the one with Venjix hardware inside his body.

"Mrs. Brooks, he's an infiltrator!"

"Uh, I don't know this guy!" Ziggy called, letting go of Dillon's shoulder and stepping back.

Kaylee looked over at Summer, then at Mike.

"I'd hate to do this to your hero, Sum, but bring him in," Kaylee ordered. The soldiers nodded, taking Ziggy and Dillon to their cars.

-----RPM-----

Summer scanned the monster that had fallen in battle, back at the bases, sending the information to Dr. K while Kaylee stood, leaning against a table. The other rangers sat around it, waiting for her orders.

"So, what are we looking at here?" Scott asked.

"Dr. K'll send you the information once it's been analysed," Kaylee answered. "But this guy's different. Venjix technology is now evolving, fast. If we don't upgrade our fire power, Venjix will overrun the city within a month."

"And if he takes over our city, he's got the communication, power and defence systems all to himself. NewTech'll be destroyed as well," Hayden frowned.

"We're going to have to activate Ranger Black," Flynn told his leader. Scott looked over at him, a little hurt. Understandably, he still wasn't over the loss of his brother.

"Look, we don't have an operator that can handle the power!" Scott frowned. "Where are we supposed to find one now?"

"We could always ask Hannah," Mike joked, hoping it would lighten the mood.

"Kelly'll kill you if you get her daughter involved in this kinda danger," Kaylee reminded her nephew.

Hayden noticed Summer smirking.

"You have a plan, don't you Sum?" she asked. "Is it what I'm thinking?"

"Maybe," Summer smiled. She stood up and walked to the door, with her cousin right behind her. "We'll be back shortly!"

-----RPM-----

"So, your aware that you have robotic, throughout your body, but you have no idea who it got there?" the colonel question as he paced inside a jail cell. Dillon sat on a chair opposite of him, looking none too pleased.

"That's right."

"And you don't know your own name," the colonel frowned, "or where you come from."

"That's right," Dillon repeated.

-----RPM-----

Meanwhile, Ziggy was also being questioned, in another cell, in another room.

"Who am I, you wanna know?" he asked. "Let me tell you who I am. I'm the type of guy who knows when to keep his mouth shut. And that's all you're going to get from me."

The soldiers exchanged glances before one clicked his pen. Ziggy bolted into an upright sitting position.

"Okay! You win! You broke me!" he yelled.

-----RPM-----

"So what exactly do you remember?" the colonel asked.

"That I need some gas," Dillon answered, never loosing the cool tone in his voice.

-----RPM-----

"... and that was the first time I ever had the courage to look myself in the mirror and just love myself," Ziggy smiled. He always loved telling his life story, and he was finally getting his chance. "But I'm getting way ahead of myself. Let's back up and we'll cover the rest of my preschool years."

-----RPM-----

"So we can also assume that these robotic upgrades provide you with enhanced physical abilities?" the colonel asked as he held up an x-ray photo of Dillon's bones and circuitry.

Dillon noticed Summer and Hayden walked into the area just outside his cell and gave them a look before the colonel continued.

"Extra strength, improved..."

The colonel's arm accidentally pushed a glass of water off the table. Dillon jumped down, catching it with one hand before it fell, then placed it back on the table.

"I'll take that as a yes," the colonel smirked.

-----RPM-----

"... and then I would wake from the dream, only to realise that it wasn't a dream!" Ziggy narrated. "I had actually gone to school in my underwear!"

One soldier handed his bag of popcorn he stole from Kaylee's stash to his buddy as he sat in the front row of the crowd of soldiers who had all assembled inside Ziggy's cage to hear the story.

"Well my friends," Ziggy sat, walking up to a white board. "That is something that's hard to bounce back from, especially since by that time, the rash has spread so far down the back of my..."

-----RPM-----

"You see the problem here," Colonel Truman continued. By now, Dillon had his arms behind his head as he watched the colonel pace around the cage. "How am I supposed to know if you're a human that's part machine, or a machine that's part human?"

"Maybe you should flip a coin," Dillon suggested.

"You know, when it comes down to it, you can side with them, or you can side with us."

"I side with myself; Every time."

"Colonel, can I please have a minute?" Summer asked before the colonel could ask another question.

"Bear, I don't think you understand..."

"I was never a part of your squad," Summer reminded him. "I'm not Bear. The name's Summer, S-U-M-M-E-R, Summer, got it?"

"Look Bear, I don't have the time. He's threat to humanity and you don't have the authority..."

"But I do," Hayden smirked, flashing her identification card to the colonel. "I pays to have a mom who's your boss."

"She's not my boss..."

"She created the morphers we use to save your ass. Without her, you would be dead. I think that qualifies."

The colonel sighed as he opened the prison door and walked out, leaving Hayden and Summer to their jobs. Summer sat down in the chair he had just been sitting in, while Hayden grabbed an extra chair and sat in the corner.

"What did I do to deserve this? Two girls in my cell," Dillon smirked.

"Um, eww," Hayden frowned. "No flirting, just answering."

Dillon rolled his eyes as he looked over at Summer.

"Can I be honest with you?" he asked.

"Give it a shot," Summer smiled, though her tone was a little more aggressive than her expression let on.

"Yellow is definitely not your colour."

Hayden held back a giggled while Summer turned to her, throwing a pen at the younger girl.

"Can I ask you a question?" Summer asked.

"Let's hear it," Dillon said.

"Do you have to work really hard at the whole brooding, bad boy thing?" Summer asked, glaring at Dillon. "Like, seriously, do you get up and practice in front of the mirror every morning?"

Hayden slapped her hands together, like a crocodile's mouth as she laughed. Though she saw Summer as more of a mix between Ronny and Lily, with maybe a small amount of Tori, the girl still bit like her mother. And when she did bite, it was hard.

"I'm Summer, and that's my cousin, Hayden."

"Dillon," the cyborg smiled. "You can call me Dillon."

"Can I ask you another question, Dillon?"

"Look, I'm telling you the truth!" Dillon yelled. "I don't know who I am, or where I came from."

"I don't care where you came from," Summer said calmly. "I wanna know where you're going."

The older blonde motioned to Hayden. The girl in pink nodded as she pulled out a pocket watch. She opened it as a song started playing. Dillion tried to get up to grab it, but Summer held him down.

"That's mine!" he yelled.

"We found this in your coat, and thought it might get you to talk," Hayden smirked. "You'll get it back, when we get our answers."

"I'm telling you the truth!" Dillon yelled, grabbing the glass of water and throwing it at the younger blonde. The water soaked Hayden while the glass broke as it made contact, cutting her arm and upper chest.

Hayden winced as she looked down at her injuries. She knew she couldn't pull the glass out with Dillon in the room. If he saw her heal, he would surely tell the colonel next time he was questioned.

After Venjix took control of the world, people with genetic abilities were seen as a threat. They could easily align with Venjix to eliminate the normal human race. Though that theory was far from true, the military didn't want to take any chances and locked up anyone with enhanced abilities, like they had done with Dillon. Fortunately, most of the former Rangers had convinced the army they lost their genetic abilities along with their Rangers suits. But Hayden, Summer and Mike were a different story. They kept their powers hidden from the military, in hopes of it never surfacing in battle.

Summer looked at her cousin and saw Hayden was in pain. She shook her head at her luck. The one time Hayden had to feel pain, there was another body in the room, unaware of her powers. She had to make a choice: trust Dillon and allow Hayden to pull the glass out to heal, or let her cousin stand there and suffer.

She turned to Dillon, hoping she made the right choice, before nodding to Hayden.

Hayden gently pulled the glass out and watched as her cuts healed within seconds. Summer was forced to look away in disgust, while Dillon watched, eyes wide.

"What the hell was that!" he yelled, pointing to the blonde.

"Spontaneous regeneration," Summer explained, "A super power."

"Spon... what?"

"Yeah, she uses big words," Hayden frowned. "I can insta-heal."

"That's... strange."

"You can't tell a soul!" Summer pleaded. "If you let our secret spill, we could be locked up."

"Oh, like I am now?" Dillon frowned.

"We're working on busting you out," Summer assured him. "Just, please, don't rat her out."

"I'm kinda new around here, but wouldn't powers be illegal?" Dillon smirked.

"It is," Summer answered.

"So what's you power Sunshine?" Dillon asked. Summer looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't-"

"You said our," Dillon reminded her. "And unless you meant to say you're keeping her secret for the sake of keeping secrets, then that means you have a power. So, what do you have?"

"You don't wanna know," Hayden sighed, putting her hands to her ears.

"Oh, I do," Dillon smiled. "So, Sunshine, you gonna show me?"

"As soon as you stop calling me Sunshine."

"But it fits. Summer, Sunshine..."

"I'm serious."

"So am I, Sunshine."

"Stop."

Hayden slapped her hands together again, trying in vain to warn the boy that Summer was ready to snap.

The room was soundproof, so Summer knew her secret was safe. She opened her mouth and screamed.

"Holy shit!" Dillon yelled, covering his ears. "Warn me next time, Sunshine."

"I'll do it again if you don't stop."

"I highly doubt that, Sunshine."

Summer glared at the boy before turning to the door and walking out. Hayden walked up to Dillon and patted him on the shoulder.

"She likes you."

"Hayden!" Summer called as she left the holding room.

-----RPM-----

After questioning Dillon, Summer and Hayden returned home. Kaylee had already started on dinner, and Dustin was in the TV room playing with Christian. The two year old had been officially adopted by the Brooks the week before, after no one claimed him, or offered to adopt him. Summer liked how the whole family mixed in together. Dustin and Kaylee had been parents without a child, before Hayden was born, and Christian was a child with no parents. Hayden was also a sister, with no sibling, so Christian fit in perfectly.

"You went to talk to Dillon, didn't you?" Kaylee asked from the kitchen when she saw her niece and daughter were home.

"Yeah, why?" Summer asked, hating how her Aunt could read her like a book.

"Just curious," Kaylee smirked. "Dinner'll be ready in half an hour. Meanwhile, keep Christian busy so Dustin can set the table."

"Aw, but honey, I don't wanna!" Dustin whined as Christian drove a little toy car up him arm.

"Dustin," Kaylee frowned.

"Can't the girls do it?" Dustin asked.

"No, they fought crime today, they did their community service."

"But I fought crime too!"

"Twenty-three years ago," Kaylee reminded him. "And apparently, it was an epic failure."

"How?"

"The world has since been taken over by evil."

"I'll get the plates," Dustin groaned, picking up his adoptive son and giving him to Hayden.

"Thank you!" Kaylee smiled, kissing her husband as he passed by.

"Yeah, yeah," Dustin shrugged.

While Dustin and Kaylee were busy in the kitchen, Summer and Hayden sat on the couch and turned on the TV.

"So, do you really think Dillon's the one?" Hayden asked.

"He isn't going to spill the beans about our powers," Summer smiled.

"Yeah, and neither is the rest of our family. But not everyone there is sane in the head!"

"Hay, that's your family," Summer laughed.

"Exactly my point."

"Mayden!" Christian called, waving Hayden's morpher in the air, "Shaking again!"

"Dr. K?" Summer asked as she and Hayden took off.

"Who else?"

-----RPM-----

The girls arrived in the base, just in time to catch the end of Dr. K's explanation of... whatever he was discussing.

"He's a machine though, ain't he?" Flynn asked.

"_Technically, he's a human mixed with cyber genetic modifications."_

"Can we modify Uncle Blake?" Hayden smirked, standing beside Flynn.

"Dude, why is it always my dad?" Mike frowned.

"Do you want me to explain the whole uno thing again?"

"No thank you," Mike laughed.

"Alright, I'm just a simple mechanic, no scientist, but I'm looking at metal, bolts and circuitry, and if that's not a machine, I don't know what is," Flynn frowned.

"There's more to him than that," Summer argued.

"She's just saying that 'cause she likes him," Mike smirked.

"Shut up,' Summer said, slapping her cousin on the arm. "Hayden, you were there."

"He does have a soft side for Summer," Hayden said, avoiding a slap to the back of the head. "But that does mean he has emotions. When was the last time you saw a Venjix robot with feelings?"

"_Scott, you're team leader, this is your call."_

"Look, Summer, I honestly hope you know what you're doing with this, I really do," Scott started as he looked over at the other two boys. "Cause I cannot see anything impressive about this guy at all."

Scott walked off, followed by Mike. Flynn took a step forward, but Hayden grabbed him hand, holding him back.

"Flynn, you gotta trust her on this," Hayden said. "When has Summer ever been wrong?"

"There was that time we played cards, she was wrong about the score," Flynn smirked. Summer shot him a hurt look. "It's not that I don't trust you, Summer, I do. It's just... I don't trust him."

"Scott just doesn't want someone to wear his brother's suit! But he'll come around!" Summer said.

"I can't change his mind,' Flynn pointed out. "He's like his father. Stubborn."

"Maybe my mom can talk to him," Hayden suggested. "She lost a daughter. Maybe she can change his mind. But don't give up on him, or Summer, or us!"

"Hayden, you know I trust you, no matter what, but what red says, goes," Flynn sighed. "Sorry Pink."

Flynn gently patted her on the shoulder as he walked out. The alarm suddenly started blaring, as the monitors changed to the security footage, showing Dillon standing up to the other prisoners for Ziggy. Scott and Mike ran back into the room and watched.

Flynn's jaw dropped in shock as he watched Dillon take on all the prisoners, alone, and win.

"Sweet mother of molasses!" he said.

"You mean, holy shit!" Hayden corrected, smirking.

Summer grabbed the remote and turned off the TV before turning around to her team.

"Impressive enough for you?"

Flynn nodded, smiling. It didn't take much to change his mind. Mike seemed to agree as well. All that was left was Scott.

The leader looked over at Summer, and saw her raise both eyebrows, enforcing her position with the deadly if-you-don't-agree-I'm-gonna-kick-your-ass eyebrow threat he saw her Aunt Tori do at one point. It was scary how much she resembled her aunts. Lily's looks, Ronny's skills on anything with a motor and wheels and Tori's threats.

-----RPM-----

Summer lead the team of five into Dillon's prison, making sure none of the guards were around to hear them.

"Dillon," she smiled as her team stood beside her. "This is Scott, Flynn, Mike and you already know Hayden."

"Scott Truman, team leader," Scott smiled.

"Michael Bradley, D-Green," Michael smirked.

"Hayden Brooks, RPM Pink," Hayden saw a glass of water on the table and laughed as she grabbed it, and moved it away from Dillon. "It wouldn't hurt me but, uh... just in case."

"And I'm Flynn," Flynn frowned. "Just, Flynn."

"He's Flynn McAllistair, and I'm Summer McKnight," Summer smiled. "And there's someone else I would like you to meet."

Kaylee walked into the prison cell and stood beside her daughter and nephew.

"Dillon, this is my aunt, Kaylee Brooks," Summer introduced. "She's the woman behind the scenes. She's done everything from creating our morphers, to raising Hayden, to giving me a home in Corinth City."

"Hey, I couldn't have done it without Dr.K," Kaylee smiled. "Without the Doc, I wouldn't have been able to make your weapons and Zords."

"And why do I care?" Dillon asked.

"We're the only chance you have of ever getting out of this place," Scott smiled.

"And what do I have to do?" Dillon frowned. "Buy a ticket in your little freak show? Prove to you I can insta-heal on demand?"

Kaylee looked over at Hayden and frowned.

"He knows?"

"He had to find out," Hayden explained. "It hurt!"

"You have to join us," Summer smiled.

"Join the freak show?" Dillon asked.

"What's it going to be robo-man?" Mike said. "Are you in, or out?"

"Well now, that all depends," Dillon started, looking down at the chains that held him down to the chair and the soldiers surrounding him, holding blasters. "Do I get to pick my own colour?"

**To Be Continued**


	3. Rain

The doors swung open as five teens walked the base.

"Here we are," Scott smiled. "Home, sweet, home."

"We call it the garage," Summer explained to Dillon, showing him the five cars and the mechanical tools.

"See if you can guess why," Flynn laughed as he rolled out from under a pink car. Hayden's eyes widened as she jumped into his arms.

"You fixed it!" she smiled. "Thank you!"

Dillon looked around, before his eyes settles on a red and black car in the middle of the garage.

"Yours?" he asked Scott.

"All seven hundred horses," Scott smiled proudly, walking up to the driver's side.

"Cute toy," Dillon smirked.

"Cute?" Scott asked. "No, Hayden's car is cute. Summer's bike is cute. This..."

Scott ran his hand softly over the side of the car.

"This, is my baby."

"He sounds like Daniela," Hayden whispered to Summer and Mike.

"Well," Summer smiled, walking over to the computers and leaning on the back of a chair. "These are the real toys."

"So where did all this stuff come from?" Dillon asked.

The chair under Summer spun around as Kaylee looked up at the future Black Ranger.

"These toys," Kaylee said, holding up Summer's yellow morpher, "Come from me. I designed and built them. And, with some help from Dr. K, I got the weapons and the Zords up and running."

Kaylee turned to the white computer screen.

"Dr. K, the door please," she asked.

The doors to a second room opened up and Flynn lead the way.

"Once I retired from the Ranger business, I started working on morphers for a new team. I figured evil wouldn't rest, so I wanted to be prepared in case I was right," Kaylee explained. "I created the RPM morphers."

Suddenly, lights turned on behind the Rangers and Dillon, revealing the RPM Ranger uniforms. Red, Pink, Blue, Yellow, Dark Green, Light Green and Black.

"Bright Yellow, Blue, Pink, Red and Green Spandex?" Dillon asked, looking over the uniforms.

"_THEY ARE NOT SPANDEX!"_ Dr. K yelled from her computer station.

"Dr. K can get a little defensive about his work," Summer warned the rebel.

"_The material is a self assembling nano fibre, formed with an intercellular shape memory aloe."_

"My mistake," Dillon frowned. "Now, is it machine washable or dry clean only?"

"_You've seen this in action. You know what it can do."_

"We still haven't worked out all the kinks though," Kaylee explained.

"Like?" Hayden asked.

"The wedgies!" Kaylee frowned, reaching to the back of her pants. "After five teams, you'd think I would have figured them out!"

Hayden rolled her eyes, wondering if she was actually related to this woman.

"Look, this is all very impressive, but I don't belong here," Dillon sighed. "I'm not cut out to be your black power dude."

"_Ranger operation Series Black,"_ Dr. K corrected.

"Whatever," Dillon groaned. "I'm no superhero. Besides, I got plenty of places to go..."

"Promises to keep," Summer reminded him, stepping up in front of him and looking in his eyes.

"Something like that," Dillon sighed.

"The only place you have to go, is back into that cell," Mike said.

"And just how long do you think that's going to hold me?" Dillon asked, standing over Mike. The two boys glared at each other until Hayden and Summer broke them apart.

"Guys," Scott said, putting a hand on both Mike and Summer. "Forget him. This chump will never make it through basic testing anyways."

"Testing?" Dillon asked. "What testing?"

-----RPM-----

"The acute physical and mental qualities needed for Black are extremely rare," Summer explained as Dillon was being scanned by a laser.

"There's only been one other person capable of wearing the suit, without dying," Hayden continued, before receiving a glare from Scott.

Flynn turned off the laser and lead Dillon to his first test: the spinning ball.

"Three dimensional orientations," he smiled.

Summer watched the future black Ranger, holding a stop watch in her hand to monitor the time. Hayden stood beside her, poking her arm relentlessly.

"Can I try after?" she asked. "Can I? Please? Please!"

Kaylee shook her head, wondering if she actually gave birth to that child.

Dillon stepped out from the ball once he was done and looked up at the others.

"Was I supposed to be dizzy?" he asked.

Summer looked over at him and smiled before programming another laser, then leading him to his next challenge.

"DIE!" Hayden yelled out playfully, throwing pink balls at Dillon as he either dodged them, or kicked them away. "Why won't you die?!"

Dillon took a second to smirk at her and then kicked one of the balls in her direction, nearly knocking her head off.

"Whoa..." Mike breathed, exchanging looks with Summer, then Scott, who was not happy.

His next challenge put him in a chair as the simulator created an earthquake. Flynn watched the black Ranger in awe as he fell asleep.

It was official. Dillon was unstoppable. No matter what the test was, he flew past it. Reading a newspaper as the room caught fire, doing push ups with a rock on his back, a rock that weighed a little over a ton. Submerging his head underwater (he started making bubbles). Nothing wore him down.

"This cannot be possible!" Kaylee frowned, looking over the results. "Not even Tori scored this high! I didn't even score this high!"

"_His biotic implant is giving him the extra reflexes and co-ordination skill."_ Dr. K explained as Kaylee nodded.

"I don't care!" Scott yelled. "I'm sorry; I just don't trust this guy!"

"I don't trust him either, okay!" Flynn frowned. "But it's not like we have a whole line of people stretching around the corner, do we?"

"Guys, we have no choice!" Kaylee told them. "Series Black needs to be operational before the city's defences are breached once again."

"_Venjix is getting stronger. At this rate, I don't think Hayden can even survive his next attack."_

Mike and Flynn looked over at Scott, as if begging him to reconsider.

"I still don't like this guy," Scott sighed.

-----RPM-----

"Corinth city," Hayden smiled. "It's a self sustained, self contained living environment. Everything's recycled; everything's programmed... even the weather."

Hayden looked up to the sky as the clouds started moving around actively.

"I know what you're trying to do," Dillon said. "You're trying to show me what it is you're trying to protect."

"We're trying to show you why it's worth fighting for," Summer answered.

"You're trying to make me care."

"Once your DNA is bonded to the Series Black, there is no going back. We would be trusting you with all this."

"DON'T!" Dillon snapped, scaring Summer as she stepped back. "You can't..."

"Why not?" Summer asked.

"I'm just not that kind of person, okay?" Dillon said, lowering his tone once he saw he scared Summer. "Someone trusted me to save them once and I-"

"You're still out there looking for them," Summer smiled. "Even if you can't remember who they are... or if they can't remember you."

"What?" Dillon frowned. "How do you...?"

"You're the kind of person I want saving me," Summer finished as tears burned her eyes. "I don't know why Dillon, but I trust you. Please don't let me down."

Summer ran off, pushing past Scott and Mike. The two boys, plus Flynn ran after her, while Hayden stayed behind.

"What was that about?" Dillon asked, looking over at Hayden, who was watching the sky.

"Three years ago, Summer was attacked by an army of robots. She could have died that day had it not been for one of her best friends. He jumped in and bought her time to run. But she didn't get far before he was killed," Hayden explained. "Summer's been afraid of robots ever since. She's facing her fear, and it's not bad now, but... it still haunts her. She can't remember her friend's face anymore because she doesn't want to. She doesn't want to remember that night. Everything for her is a blur. She just knows she lost her best friend."

Hayden walked off, following her cousins and friends as the rain started to fall. Dillon looked around the park he was in, and noticed families hiding under umbrellas, and people running with suitcases over their heads.

His eyes stopped on two kids, one boy, one girl. The boy was holding up an umbrella and invited the girl underneath. The two looked into each other's eyes, before the boy playfully pushed the girl into the rain. The girl laughed as she tried to get under the umbrella, but the boy started running away. They were having fun. Just the two of them.

"_Here!" ten year old Dillon smiled, putting up an umbrella as the rain started to fall. He smiled as a young girl walked up beside him and smiled back. He couldn't make out her face though. "You okay?"_

"_Yep," the girl said, turning to Dillon, but her face still wasn't clear._

Once the rain stopped, Dillon found his team under a tree. They were wet, but they were waiting for him.

"So," Summer smiled. "You'll do it?"

Her tears were dry, and she looked like she hadn't even shed one, but Dillon still saw the pain in her eyes. He smiled as he nodded.

"One condition."

"You have conditions now?" Scott smirked.

-----RPM-----

Ziggy stepped to the side as one of the prisoners tried to grab him from inside his cage. He smirked as he looked over at the guy, then stuck out his tongue in a teasing manner.

"Hey, look, I'm sorry. I would love to stay, I really would, but I got some work with this little group... I don't know if you've heard of them. They're called... The Power Rangers!"

All the prisoners started to yell as Ziggy ran for the door, stopping in front of Summer.

"Hi, Ziggy Grover, reporting for duty," he said, shaking hands with the yellow Ranger. He leaned in and whispered, "I'm a huge fan."

Summer nodded slowly, trying to smile as Ziggy moved onto Flynn. The blue Ranger offered his hand, but Ziggy refused it.

"No, no, I'm here for the big thing!" he smiled, pulling Flynn into a hug. Flynn was taken by surprise and Hayden noticed when Flynn looked over at her, asking for help.

Ziggy finally let go and walked up to Mike.

"Love the colour!" he smiled, hugging Mike. The D-Green Ranger shook his head, but laughed as he patted the boy on the back.

Scott turned to Dillon, a little surprised by Ziggy's attitude, before the boy hugged him.

"Dillon, why him?" Scott asked.

Dillon just shrugged as he looked at Ziggy.

"He can make shadow puppets."

"Dill Pickles! My brother from another mother!" Ziggy smiled, hugging his friend.

"Ziguardo," Dillon smiled, earning strange looks from his teammates. "Long story."

Hayden was last to receive a hug, but due to her smaller size, she felt as if it was more of a choke hold then a friendly greeting. When Ziggy let go, she breathed deeply and shook her head.

"Wow..."

"Ziguardo," Dillon started. "Meet the team, over there is Sunshine, followed by the Hulk, Bug Zapper, Red and finally Princess."

"Excuse me?" the five teens asked.

"When did you... how did you?" Hayden frowned. "No nicknaming us!"

"Wait... I think I got this!" Ziggy smiled, "Summer, Flynn, Mike, Scott and Hayden?"

"Yep, and this," Hayden turned as Kaylee walked into the prison room, "is my mom."

Ziggy nearly choked on his words as he spotted former Green Ranger, Kaylee Ann Hanson-Brooks.

"No... way. She's your mother?"

"I'm waiting for Dr. K to give me the DNA results," Hayden smirked.

-----RPM-----

Back in the base, Dillon had just installed his Series Black uniform before morphing. After he watched as the five others morphed.

"So, how does it feel?" Flynn asked, putting his hand on Dillon's shoulder.

"Like I'm wearing a thong," Dillon frowned. "Seriously."

"KINKS!" Kaylee called from her chair.

Ziggy stood up from his seat, putting his popcorn down as he applauded.

"That has got to be the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life!" he exclaimed. His eyes suddenly widened when he remembered he had a camera on him. "Wait. Don't move! Hold that pose! It's perfect!"

The Rangers exchanged glances before posing for a picture. Ziggy smiled as he pushed the button, then looked at the picture he had taken.

"Perfect! It's great!" he smiled. He then stopped and took a closer look. "Oh... no wait... Yellow, your eyes were closed, let's try another one."

"Can he even see my eyes?" Summer asked, looking over at Mike, who shrugged.

"Black, can I see a smile, you're a Power Ranger!" Ziggy continued. "Have fun with it!"

"Okay, just take the picture!" Dillon groaned. Ziggy nodded, this time setting up the picture so he was in it. Unfortunately he was covering the Blue Ranger, the Pink Ranger and half of the Yellow Ranger.

Ziggy jumped when he felt a hand slam down on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Kaylee staring at him.

"I'm kind of ruining the special Ranger moment, aren't I?" he asked, backing away, back to his seat, "Maybe stepping on tradition just a bit? Totally cool, I understand, just pretend like I'm not here!"

He moved his fingers over his lips, as if zipping them shut as he walked back to his seat.

"OH, just one thing though!" he said. "What's with the spandex?"

The lights started to flicker as the computer screen behind Kaylee turned from white to red.

-----RPM-----

"Talk about sensitive," Ziggy groaned as he knelt down on the floor, scrubbing it with a toothbrush.

"_Would it be cliché if I told you that you missed a spot?"_ Dr. K asked.

Summer and Hayden passed by at that moment and laughed.

Flynn walked into the room with a pillow and smiled as he tossed it to Dillon.

"Welcome aboard," he said. "There's no turning back now, is there?"

"Okay, so you've got Summer and Hayden's rooms over there," Scott pointed to a yellow and pink door, then moved his finger to a Blue, Red, Green and Black door. "And our room's just up there."

Mike walked up behind Dillon and noticed the pocket watch he had with him. He heard the soft lullaby and laughed.

"Do you sleep with that thing?" he asked.

"I would if I slept," Dillon sighed.

Summer and Hayden passed by the Black Ranger. When Summer heard the pocket watch, she leaned in a little closer to hear it better.

"I know I've heard it before, in the holding room... but it sounds familiar..." she told the Black Ranger.

"I found it," Dillon explained. "I found this with me three years ago. It's the first thing I remember."

"Hayden, do you remember that tune?" Summer asked, turning to her cousin.

"I think Aunt Kira sang something that had that as a melody," Hayden shrugged. "But that was way back when we were kids. I wouldn't remember the words now, and I'm sure your mom doesn't either."

Hayden gently tapped Summer on the back as she walked off. Summer nodded, as if to say goodnight, before taking the watch from Dillon.

"Do you mind?" she asked.

"Not at all," Dillon smiled. Summer smiled back, and turned the watch over, reading what was on the back.

_A life without love is like a year without Summer._

"I remember hearing that..." Summer frowned.

"It's a quote," Dillon explained. "You probably heard it in school."

"Yeah... probably," Summer smiled. Dillon nodded as he walked off, leaving his watch with Summer. She looked down at it again, reading the last part.

_... A year without Summer._

"Why is _Summer_ capitalized?" she asked herself, closing the watch to make the music stop. She stuffed it in her pocket and walked to bed.

-----RPM-----

Dillon woke up with a start. He tried to breathe normally as his dream flashed through his mind. He was standing in a room, and someone was looking at him. It was the same person as in the memory at the park, but he still didn't see her face. The only thing he saw was his watch as the person gave it to him.

"_My dad gave me this on my birthday. Hold onto it."_

That was all she said as she gave him the watch.

He jumped out of bed and quickly got changed. He then raced down to the garage where Ziggy was still awake.

"Ziguardo," he called. "Do you know a way out of the city?"

Ziggy looked up at Dillon and frowned.

"Out? You mean... you mean out? Out?"

"Just tell me."

"They burn propane gas at the station at dawn," Ziggy started. "But you've only got like, two seconds between burns..."

Dillon had all he needed. He tapped Ziggy on the back as he ran off for Scott's car.

"Dude, you can't just go!" Ziggy called after him. Hayden walked out from her room and saw Dillon sitting in Scott's car. She ran to stop him.

"Watch me!" Dillon frowned, stealing the keys and driving off. Hayden jumped in front of the car, hoping that Dillon would stop, but he knew her powers, so he kept driving, running her over.

Ziggy covered his mouth with his hand as he watched Dillon drive over Hayden. When he was gone, Ziggy ran over to her and knelt down beside her.

"Hayden! Hayden you okay?" he called.

"Me? Yeah," Hayden coughed, looking down at her arm, which was bent in two. Ziggy tried holding down his dinner.

"Want me to call your mom?" he asked, panicked.

"No... um..." Hayden looked around nervously. Ziggy didn't know about her powers. What if he turned her in? But her arm was killing her so much.

"I'll go get a doctor! Or your mom! Hayden you need help!" Ziggy yelled.

Hayden decided she had better calm him down before he woke anyone up, especially Summer.

"I'll be fine, look," she said, putting her arm back into place. Ziggy watched as the swelling died and Hayden started moving her fingers. "Good as new."

"You're... you're a..."

"Ziggy, please..." Hayden begged, standing up and putting her hands on his arms. "If you tell anyone other than the team, Dr. K and my mom, they're going to hunt me down and lock me up! And they might go after the others. You can't..."

"Won't tell a soul," Ziggy smiled, winking at Hayden.

Suddenly, the alarms went off, waking up the other Rangers.

"_Some kind of substance dispersed inside the city is prompting the shield frequency,"_ Dr. K announced. _"We have multiple power breaches."_

Summer walked out from her room and noticed Scott's car was missing, but the red Ranger was still present. She stopped in her tracks and dropped onto the stairs.

"Dillon..."

"He went in my car!" Scott frowned, running to the spot where his car used to be.

"I'm trying to find the source!" Flynn called, working on the computer as Hayden and Mike looked over his shoulder.

"But my car!" Scott frowned.

"Screw the car!" Hayden yelled. "Attack, city. Doomsday!"

"But... my car! Nobody touches my car!"

"Dill Pickle is as close to no one as you're going to meet," Ziggy sighed.

-----RPM-----

Dillon sat in Scott's car, just a few feet away from the doors where the propane was burning. A woman was speaking on the radio, giving off co-ordinates to the city of NewTech and Corinth.

The Black Ranger just sat there, pondering whether he should attempt to leave or not.

-----RPM-----

"You guys just keep getting uglier," Scott frowned as he and the other Rangers arrived face to face with the newest monster.

"Are you sure that's a guy?" Hayden asked, tilting her head to the side. "I just see a whole lotta ugly. That... oh, shit. I'm sorry. It is a monster!"

"You're too late!" the monster yelled. "I've already released the mist and a thousand Grinders are loose in the city."

"Engine cell, activate!" Scott called as he and the Rangers pulled out their hand blasters. The Rangers charged through the Grinders, destroying them with their weapons as they ran by.

"NO!" the monster yelled. "My Grinders!"

"And you're next!" Hayden smirked.

The rangers pulled out their individual weapons as they turned their attacks on the monster. For a while, the monster was taking one hell of a beating, until he retreated, leaving the Rangers to battle the Grinders left in the city, as he destroyed it.

"C'mon guys!" Mike called, taking off down the path leading to the center of the city.

Before the Rangers could reach the center of the city, the monster had grown to an enormous size, causing all of them to groan. Hayden whipped out her morpher and called her mom.

"Can you send the Zords?" she asked. "We've got bug problems."

"_Wish I could, Hay,"_ Kaylee frowned. _"But something's jamming the signal."_

"My guess," Mike sighed as Grinders appeared from nowhere. "It's them."

"_They have something that's interfering with our connection to the Zord bay,"_ Dr. K explained. _"Try locating the one with a remote of some sort and destroy it."_

"Easier said than done Dr. K," Summer sighed estimating the number of robot heads. "There are hundreds of them!"

The Grinders suddenly started running forward, attacking the Rangers from every direction. Normally the foot soldiers would have been easy, but there was a good group on every Ranger, making the odds terrible for the heroes.

"I can't get them off me!" Summer yelled, kicking one in the face, only to have three grab onto her.

"Energy levels are dropping!" Flynn shouted as he clutched his ribs.

"Dropping?" Mike frowned. "Levels are reaching critical!"

-----RPM-----

"_No, there pinning us down!"_ Ziggy heard from Scott over the radio.

"_Guys, we're almost outta juice!" _Flynn said.

"There in trouble!" Ziggy yelled, running over to the computers and standing over Kaylee.

"I know... but I can't access anything until they destroy the Grinder jamming our signals!" Kaylee yelled, slamming her fists down on the keyboard.

"What can I do?" Ziggy smiled.

-----RPM-----

The Rangers fell to the ground as their suits blinked away, and then came back.

"Not good," Hayden coughed.

-----RPM-----

Ziggy watched the monitors desperately before turning back to the computer.

"Doc, can you tap me into this radio transmission?" he asked.

"_Don't ever call me Doc,"_ Dr. K said.

"Just, tell me how to do it!" Ziggy yelled, losing his patience. "I want to help!"

-----RPM-----

"We need to conserve energy," Scott told his team as he pushed away a Grinder.

"Wanna tell us how?" Mike frowned.

Summer was slashed across the chest, before falling to her knees, unmorphed.

"I'm out of power!" she yelled.

Mike jumped in front of her, covering her before he too was attacked by a Grinder and forced to Power down. Not long after him, Scott went down, followed by Flynn.

"Mom! I need backup!" Hayden yelled, running over to her friends and standing between them and the Grinders. "I don't care from where! I need help!"

-----RPM-----

Dillon didn't know how, but all of a sudden his radio was broadcasting the fight going on between the Rangers and the foot soldiers. He frowned as he looked down at it, but still kept driving towards the burning propane.

But when he heard Summer scream, he sharply turned the wheel and drove the other way.

-----RPM-----

"Summer!" Mike and Scott yelled as the yellow Ranger flew through the air, landing a few feet behind them.

"Pick on someone your own size!" Hayden yelled, running into the Grinder that attacked her cousin. She realised her mistake when all the Grinders started to move closer to her. "Mom... help."

"_I'm trying Hayden, just hold on," _Kaylee said.

"I don't think I can!" Hayden yelled. Her eyes widened when she saw the Grinder holding a little machine. "Wait! I think I found it!"

She jumped up to her feet and ran for her target. She jumped into the air, and kicked the Grinder's hands, knocking the machine out. It smashed into pieces as it hit the ground.

"_YES!" _she heard Dr. K and her mother exclaim.

"Hayden, behind you!" Summer yelled, but it was too late. Hayden failed to notice the Grinders behind her had a blaster. They fired it at the poor girl, hitting her square in the chest as she turned around to get a look.

"HAYDEN!" Scott yelled as he watched his youngest Ranger flip through the air and land on a destroyed car.

"She'll... she'll heal, right?" Flynn asked, trying to get to his feet, but falling once he reached his knees.

"Depends," Mike frowned. "Is she bleeding... a lot?"

Before Mike's question was answered, a red and black car sped past them before stopping. Dillon jumped out and smirked.

"RPM, Get in Gear!" he yelled.

"If you scratched my baby, I'm going to make you wish you never came back!" Scott yelled.

"You four take care of big and ugly, I'll keep the Grinders busy."

"But Dillon, there must be hundreds of them!" Flynn yelled.

"And we can't form the Megazord without Hayden!" Summer added. Dillon reached into the car and pulled out a few of his circular bombs.

"Try using this," he said, throwing them to Summer. She caught it and frowned.

"The hell do I do with these?" she asked.

"_Turn them on, and throw them at the monster!"_ Ziggy's voice told her over the communication system.

"_Then get your asses, and Hayden's back here!"_ Kaylee added.

Summer nodded, handing each of her friends one of the bombs.

"How do you turn it... oh... I got it!" Mike yelled, throwing his bomb up into the air. The other did the same. Once the bombs reached the right height, they exploded.

The ground shook as fire and smoke filled the sky above them. When the smoke cleared, Scott smiled.

"Enemy is down, down and out," he said into the communication system. He turned to Dillon, but noticed he was too far to hear him, so he kept the line of communication open as he spoke. "Ranger Black, give me a status update, now."

"_I'll be fine,"_ Dillon said, and the Rangers could tell by his tone that he was smirking.

"No, I mean my car! Tell me about my car!"

"_Ranger Black, out."_

"Dillon! Dillon! DAMMIT!"

-----RPM-----

"Aunt Kaylee!" Mike yelled, running into the garage with his team behind him, Flynn carrying an unconscious Hayden. "She's not healing. We pulled every piece of metal out... but she's... just... not."

"Blood loss," Kaylee sighed, taking her daughter from Flynn. "It's being a bitch."

"Will she be okay?" Summer asked.

"If I can get some blood into her," Kaylee smiled.

"Where are you going to find blood?" Ziggy asked.

"From me..."

Kaylee looked over her shoulder and smiled as a girl walked up behind her, pink lights shining around her. She was taller than Kaylee, with curly blonde hair instead of straight and appeared to be at least nineteen, maybe twenty years old. What stuck out was the tattoo on her wrist that matched the forty year old's.

"Sammy."

**To Be Continued**


	4. Go for the Green

_I would like to thank Neo Aguini for giving me the idea for the Kaylee/Ziggy bonding thing. Once I got started on that, I found motivation to write and this chapter got to see the light of day._

* * *

"Sammy, no, you can't do this," Kaylee frowned as her oldest daughter reached out for Hayden.

"Then who can?" Sammy asked, ignoring the strange looks she was receiving from the red, blue and black Rangers, and from Ziggy. "Yours and dad's blood type doesn't match Hayden's, so even with her healing power it'll be useless. The only chance you have is me."

"How?" Summer asked. "I'm sure someone else has her blood type."

"You... you know her?" Dillon asked, turning to Summer in shock. Summer rolled her eyes and waited for her cousin to answer.

"We don't have time!" Samantha yelled. "Hayden's dying from her injuries and from blood loss. It won't be long before her powers fade and every injury she's ever gotten will come back and _kill_ her."

Summer's eyes widened as she slowly turned her head to Mike. She remembered breaking Hayden's legs and arms over and over again when she was a kid. It was a little tradition she and her twin used to have when they got bored. So many breaks could cause Hayden immense pain, which would not help at all.

"How are you sure you've got the right blood type?" Mike asked.

"Universal, baby," Samantha smirked, patting her cousin on the back. "I just have to make sure I give blood before..."

"SAMANTHA VICTORIA BROOKS!"

Sam slowly turned around as a green glow appeared in the middle of the room. The glow turned into a woman, around her age, who was seriously pissed off.

"Engel... hi," Sammy laughed nervously. "What- what are you doing here in the real world."

"Trying to stop my daughter from doing something stupid," Master Engel growled. "Oh, hey Kaylee."

"Hey Engel," Kaylee smiled.

"Engel, it's not stupid. I'm already dead, so I don't have much to lose."

"You don't know how Hayden's going to react to your blood. Like you said, _YOU'RE DEAD!_"

"Engel... please," Samantha looked down at the smaller woman with her puppy eyes. Engel rubbed her temples with her fingers and groaned.

"Fine, but if anything goes wrong..." Engel bargained, but when she looked up, she saw Samantha was already halfway to the medical ward, with Hayden in her arms. She breathed in deeply before turning back to the rest of her family.

"I hate teenagers," she said.

"Who are you guys?" Dillon asked. "Am I the only one who has no idea what's going on?"

"I'm a little lost," Flynn frowned.

"Where do you come from?" Ziggy walked over to the spot where the blue and green glow appeared and waved his hands around. "Is there a door, or a trap, or even a portal that I'm missing? Am I the only one who doesn't see it?"

"You didn't tell them?" Master Engel laughed, turning to Kaylee.

"Never came up. Sammy's not something I'm proud of," Kaylee frowned.

"Wait... Sammy, Sammy, or the miscarriage?"

"The second one," Kaylee smiled. "Sammy's a wonderful girl. I just wish I got the chance to raise her."

"Again, who are you guys?" Dillon asked. "I don't want to ruin the... whatever moment between you two, but my mind's already confused enough as it is. I don't need people appearing from nowhere."

"That's Aunt Kaylee's great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great..."

"She's our lots of great grandmother," Mike laughed, patting Summer on the shoulder. "She lived thousands of years ago and had a daughter, who had a child all the way until Hayden's and my grandmother was born. She gave birth to my mom and Aunt Kaylee, who then had me and Hay."

"Okay..." Flynn frowned. "That answers one question... and brings up about ten."

"Samantha's my first daughter, whom I lost in a miscarriage," Kaylee explained. "Scott, Flynn, you remember when I introduced you to Lily and Casey?"

"Yeah," Scott and Flynn frowned.

"You remember the Pai Zhuq and the spirit world?" the boys nodded. "Well, when Sammy died, Engel brought her to the spirit world, where she raised my daughter for me. And the more Sammy grows the more power she gets. Once she reaches ultimate power, she can remain on earth, with me. But for now, she just visits."

"She tapped into my energy to bring herself here. The kid can figure out how to do that, but can't figure out how to use her own energy to get here," Engel growled.

Kaylee sighed. If what Engel just said was true, that meant Samantha still wasn't coming home... yet.

"Soon," Engel whispered, hugging her daughter.

"You know what, knowing your family, I'm just going stick with the idea in my head that nothing happened," Flynn said, closing his eyes and turning away from Kaylee and Engel. Scott nodded, following the Blue Ranger as Ziggy and Dillon followed him.

-----RPM-----

"C'mon Hay, wake up," Sammy begged, gently shaking her sister once she finished with the blood transfusion. "You have magic blood in you! My magic blood. It has to kick in! It has to heal you!"

"You have to stop screaming in my ear!" Hayden smiled as her eyes opened and her injuries started to heal.

"Sorry," Sammy whispered, pulling her sister into a hug. "Dear Lord child, you heal on a daily basis and you still scare the shit out of me!"

"Worst case scenario, I die and live with you and grandma," Hayden smirked.

"Mom," Sammy corrected. "Engel's my spirit mom."

"Grandma," Hayden argued.

"Mom."

"Grandma."

"Mom."

"Grandma."

"You know, I answer to both," Engel smiled and the two girls turned around.

"But you hate it when I call you Grandma, unless I explain our relation," Hayden frowned.

"Yeah, my answer to Grandma is punching you in the face," Engel teased. "How ya feeling, Hay?"

"Like Aunt Ronny just ran over me with her car, again," Hayden laughed, sitting up in her bed and hanging her feet off the side. That's when she realised she had no idea if her team survived the battle or not.

"What about the others?" she asked, panicked. "Are they okay?"

"Well, Mike kinda hit his head on the pavement, so his IQ... well it can't drop, it can only go up. I guess they're fine," Engel smiled. She walked over to her granddaughter and brushed a stray hair away from her face. "I'm proud of you for standing up for them back there, but next time, land in a pile of pillows. It hurts less."

"I'll keep that in mind next time Grinders attack me and knock me unconscious for... five hours," Hayden sighed.

"Speaking of your Ranger duty, I see you choose Pink as your suit," Sammy smiled. "Now, do I have to force the words out of your mouth, or will you say it willingly."

"Neither, I don't have to say anything," Hayden smirked, jumping off the bed and running to the door.

"Hayden Victoria Brooks!" Samantha yelled, ignoring that fact that her middle name was the same as her sister's. "I wanna hear that you love me!"

"But I don't!" Hayden teased, taking off down the hall. Engel watched her two granddaughters and shook her head.

"I am not really related to them. After all, somewhere down the line, one of my kids had to adopt at some point! There are thousands of years, and thousands of generations..."

"HAYDEN!" Sam yelled from down the hall. "Why are you pink?"

"Stuff it!" Hayden called back, before running into another body. She bounced off and landed on her butt, before looking up at the person.

"Dillon... you came back," she smiled.

"The car wasn't going to make it through the explosions and it would have taken too long to walk," Dillon frowned, extending a hand to help Hayden up. As soon as the sixteen year old was on her feet, Samantha ran into the two of them, forcing Hayden back to the ground, while she bounced off Dillon and landed on her sister.

"Good thing you can heal," Sammy laughed, looking down at her sister, who was underneath her ass.

"Oh yeah," Hayden frowned, pushing her sister off. "It's peachy."

Sam smiled at her sister before standing up and facing Dillon. She extended a hand to shake Dillon's, but stopped when she thought he looked familiar.

"Wait a minute," she frowned. "I remember you! You're..."

Samantha was pulled away by Hayden, as the younger sister covered her mouth. Dillon just shook his head, thinking it was just playful sister banter as he walked away.

"What was that for?" Samantha asked once Hayden pulled her hand away.

"I think Dillon's Summer's best friend from the attack," Hayden explained. "But I'm not sure. And even if I was, I want them to find out on their own."

"What's your proof? How the hell do you know Dillon and Summer are long lost friends? What if you're wrong?" Samantha scolded, hitting her sister on the back of the head. "If you tell them, and you are wrong, then..."

"That's why I don't want to tell them," Hayden smiled, "Summer doesn't remember, and I don't want to give her false hope. That, and no one, other than Sum, ever really met the guy! I think I saw him once after school, but that was..."

"_Will Hayden, Michael, Scott, Summer and Flynn please report to the front room for the Operation Series Green Auditions."_

"We're activating series green?" Hayden frowned, looking up at the intercom.

"Yeah, Eva's idea," Samantha smiled, happy she knew more than her sister, for once. "Mom's not letting you go out on the battle field for a while, until you recover. And because we had to activate Black to keep up with Venjix, then lost pink, we need L-Green."

"I get it," Hayden sighed, making her way to the front room. "I think."

-----RPM-----

"...and for our next L-Green Ranger candidate, allow me to present, Captain Smoothie," Ziggy announced, showing the current Rangers, minus Dillon, a man in a spandex superhero costume, complete with a cape and underwear on the outside of his pants. "Now he's mostly been working birthday parties and bar mitzvahs but he could be ready to take it to the next level."

Ziggy whispered to the superhero and the man smiled, preparing his pose in hopes to wow the Rangers. He started off by raising his fist in the air, then punching the air. He brought his leg up to kick, then the other.

Unfortunately, he got caught up in the moment and started playing air guitar. When his "solo" was finished, he jumped in the air. Sadly, his cape was too long, and got caught in the ceiling fan sitting right above him.

Summer and Hayden watched as the man spun around and around and around.

"It's horrifying, and at the same time I can't look away!" Summer said, wincing as the man was thrown off the fan and landed in front of the judge's table.

Michael looked down at the man sadly before bringing his hand down on the buzzer.

-----RPM-----

"Alright, so after that last audition, feast your eyes on this!" Ziggy announced half an hour later as the curtains opened, revealing a man and his little Chihuahua.

"Aww, look at the cute puppy," Ziggy smiled, hoping the Rangers would be happy. Ziggy went to pet the dog, but the little creature started growling and barking. "AH! Cute puppy... Guard dog!"

He turned to his new friends and smiled.

Hayden nodded, slowing turning it into a shake, before bringing her hand down on the buzzer.

-----RPM-----

"_Each color of the Ranger series is designed to configure the movement of electrons with the energy bio-field in a configuration that bends time and space in order to achieve a specific function."_

"Should I pretend that I understood any of that?" Dillon asked the electronic voice of Dr. K as he stood in the middle of the base, wearing his Ranger uniform.

"_Due to the genetic modifications in Operators Yellow, Pink and Green, I've had to modify the Ranger suits. Series yellow allows the operator to scream louder than any other human, without breaking the visor. The operator's power can also go right though the helmet, allowing the operator to remain in Ranger form while using her powers."_

"So, Summer can scream?" Dillon asked.

"_Precisely."_

"And Mike and Hayden?"

"_Operator D-Green's suit allows him to manipulate the water, without wetting himself."_

"So Mike's wearing a giant, dark green diaper?" Dillon laughed. "Nice touch, Doc K."

"_And you've seen Operator Pink in action."_

"Her suit did nothing to protect her," Dillon reminded the doctor.

"_Series Pink is a tighter fabric, cutting off her circulation and stopping her from bleeding to death, all while allowing the blood to flow freely."_

"You made no sense there, Doc."

"_When the suit is torn, it can constrict, slowing the blood flow."_

"That's all very nice," Dillon frowned. "But I don't have any super powers. Why am I here?"

"_As the operator of Series Black, the most powerful suit, your suit is enabled with an invincibility shield that will make you completely impervious to any attack for a period of five seconds. Theoretically, when your shield is fully powered, you can withstand the direct blast of a forty mega pulse explosion."_

"Theoretically, but you haven't actually tested it now yet, have you?" Dillon asked.

"_No, that's what you're here for."_

"Alright," Dillon pushed a button on his morpher and put his helmet back on. "Powering up shield."

"_Ideally, you should have masters this ability before the other Rangers... and your Ziggy... have found a suitable Operator for the series L-Green technology."_

-----RPM-----

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Ziggy announced as the next contestant walked on stage... on stilts? "Please, put your hands... where are you going?"

Ziggy quickly ran after the man, who was walking away, and pulled him back to center stage.

"Okay," Ziggy smiled. "Now, unfortunately his favourite colour is blue, but I'm... now where are you... The stage is here!"

Ziggy took a step back to run after the man, but quickly realised there was no point, and he brought out the next contestant.

"Our next candidate, Pink..."

_BUZZ!_

"But you didn't..." Ziggy looked over at Hayden and glared at her for hitting the buzzer.

"We need an L-Green operator," Hayden explained. "There's already a pink one..."

"Okay... um," Ziggy flipped through the papers on his clipboard and found the next guy. He brought him up on stage and smiled as the man pulled out a dummy.

"Do you want to be a Power Ranger?" the man asked the dummy.

"_Yes!_" the dummy answered.

"So what can you do?" the man asked.

"_I can sing, and dance!"_

"See, guys, it's a two for one deal!" Ziggy smiled, pushing the sale. "It's a bargain! We can totally..."

_BUZZ!_

Ziggy sighed when he saw it was Kaylee who pushed Summer's buzzer.

"Okay, what's wrong with this guy?" he asked.

"Nothing's wrong with him," Kaylee explained, grabbing a chair and sitting between her niece and nephew. "I just hate dummies."

"Aunt Kaylee," Summer laughed. "You uh... you married one."

"I mean the wooden ones!" Kaylee frowned. "Hey... I did not!"

Ziggy lead the man and his dummy off the stage and brought up a mime.

The mime started creating a box around himself, and Ziggy was going crazy for the act.

"He's in a box!" he said, as excited as a two year old. "He can't get out."

Scott slammed his hand on the buzzer and Ziggy sighed as he led the mime off the stage.

"Stop!" Scott yelled before Ziggy could bring out the next guy. "Just, stop. We're looking for a L-Green Ranger! Not a clown!"

"You want a clown?" Ziggy asked desperately, looking through his papers. "I can get you a clown."

"Zig, we need someone who can jump into battle here and now," Kaylee explained. "And because they're going to bond with the suit, we need them to be committed to the job once Hayden's back on her feet... Not some crazy dummy with a puppet!"

"Thanks, Ziggy," Summer smiled as she stood up, with the rest of the group. "It was very entertaining..."

"NO!" Ziggy hopped off the stage and ran up to the Rangers, grabbing Kaylee's arm. "This has all been building up to my hundred percent, can't miss, green Ranger."

"Ziggy, this had better be good," Scott warned him. Ziggy smiled as he ran behind the scenes in search for the L-Green Ranger.

"Hands up if you think he's going to bring in a clown!" Hayden called, throwing her hand in the air.

"Hate to say it, but I have to agree with my cousin," Mike frowned. "Everyone he brought up here was a joke!"

"Expect the dog," Flynn laughed. "That was just scary."

Master Engel and Sam walked into the room, each holding a slice of pizza in their hands as they approached the Ranger team.

"Any luck finding the L-Green dude?" Sam asked.

Summer looked up at her cousin, then slammed her hand down on her buzzer. The buzz echoed in the near empty room, causing Sam to jump in shock.

"You could have just said no..." Sam frowned.

"Yeah, but that was a lot funnier."

"GUYS!" Ziggy yelled, running into the room and dragging a woman his age behind him. "I found her! I found our new Green Ranger."

"L-Green," Mike corrected the boy. "Get it right."

"Whatever," Ziggy smiled. "I told you I would find her, and I did!"

"You do know Series L-Green is made for a guy, right?" Hayden frowned. "No skirt."

"I'm sure we can fix that," Kaylee smiled. "Let's see what this kid can do."

Kaylee led the woman over to a treadmill and hooked up several different machines to her. She turned the machine on and watched as the girl ran, without breaking a sweat.

Summer grabbed the results from one of the computers and showed it to her team.

"She's off the charts, again!" she said.

"Not bad, huh?" Ziggy smiled. "Now did I tell you, or did I tell you?"

"Tenaya Sevenson, former news helicopter pilot," Scott read, holding the papers he got from the woman. "Ziggy, where did you find her?"

"What can I say?" Ziggy smirked. "Ziggy promises, Ziggy delivers. I make moves, this is what I do."

"Well, she perfect!" Summer smiled.

"Yeah, hold on though," Sam frowned, looking over at Tenaya. "I have this really weird feeling about her. It's the same one as with Dillon, but stronger."

"That's just because they're both awesome!" Ziggy smiled.

"Whatever it is, I wouldn't trust it," Sam warned to the team, while making sure Tenaya couldn't hear. "Keep a close eye on her until she's earned your trust."

Scott nodded as he followed Kaylee on stage to talk to Tenaya. The girl stopped the treadmill and looked at Kaylee.

"Congratulations," Kaylee smiled. "You've just joined the Power Rangers."

"Yeah, you'll have to get used to living with me and a bunch of retards," Mike smiled. "But it's totally cool once you put on the span... I mean, the Series Green suit."

"The sooner Series Green is activate and in phase one training of the Venjix, the better," Kaylee explained.

"Well, we can do the training right here!" Hayden smiled.

"Great!" Ziggy exclaimed. "I'll just go get the morpher from the Garage!"

Ziggy hopped off stage and walked to the doors, but stopped when Summer called his name.

He turned to look at her and saw her smiling at him.

"Great work."

As the Rangers and Kaylee watched Ziggy leave, they failed to notice Tenaya's smile fade into a maniacal smirk.

-----RPM-----

The Series Green Morpher appeared on the floor after Dr. K sent it over. Ziggy bent down to pick it up while Dr. K gave Ziggy his warning.

"_You must guard that morpher with your life."_

"My life, Doc?" Ziggy frowned, looking at the morpher in his hand. He knew Dr. K and Kaylee had worked hard on it, and that in the wrongs hands it could cause chaos and destruction... but Ziggy liked his life. "That's a bit severe, don't you think?"

"_That morpher contains the base DNA code for the Series technology. You must do everything in your power to keep the morpher from falling into the wrong hands."_

Ziggy put the morpher in his back and smiled, even if he was sure the doc couldn't see him.

"Okay, okay, never fear, the Zigman is here! After all, who found you the perfect green Ranger!" Ziggy grinned, feeling a sense of pride. "After all, I'm going straight to the garage, it's not like I'm going to stop for a smoothie... actually..."

Before Dr. K could say anything, Ziggy turned and ran.

-----RPM-----

Hicks was scanning Tenaya for Venjix machinery (standard procedure) when the scanner beeped.

"Sorry," he laughed, "this thing has been giving me false positives all week."

"Well, you can never be too careful now, can you?" Tenaya smiled. She pulled her hair forward, exposing her neck and the little memory slot all Venjix hardware, except Dillon, possessed.

"Hey..." Hicks frowned, grabbing his blaster, but Tenaya was faster. She pulled the gun out of his hand and knocked him down.

"Hey, you guys, I'm back! And I got the green morpher for the perfect..."

Ziggy stopped in his tracks and dropped his smoothie as Tenaya turned to him. Her clothes turned into her cat suit as she smirked.

"... evil robotic imposter," he breathed.

"Thanks, I'll take it," Tenaya smirked. She reached out for the bag, but Ziggy bolted. Groaning, Tenaya following him

Ziggy safely made it outside and found a motorbike, ready for him to use. He threw his bag over his shoulder and put the helmet on (safety first, even when a crazed, evil robotic woman is hot on your trail).

He turned the bike on and started his way out of the lot, when Tenaya jumped in front of him, grabbing the bike and lifting it over her head. Ziggy held on for dear life as he looked down at her.

"Uh, I don't mean this to sound rude, but, uh... what are you?" Ziggy asked.

"Tenaya Generation Seven, Venjix Human Infiltration Attack Bot..."

"Um... that's too long of a name, mind if I call you TGSVIAB for short?"

Ziggy and Tenaya frowned as they heard a third voice and both turned to see where it was coming from.

There, surrounded by a cloud of green smoke, stood Kaylee. Ziggy sighed in relief, knowing that the Ranger mentor wasn't going to let anything bad happen to him.

Tenaya dropped Ziggy and the bike and reached into her suit. She pulled out a faceplate and lowered the visor.

Ziggy got up as quickly as he could and ran over to Kaylee.

"What do we do now?" he asked her. "Are you going to kick some robo-ass? You know, call forth some majic ninja vodo or summon a mighty dinosaur or what?"

"You got the morpher?" Kaylee asked. Ziggy nodded, holding his bag up for Kaylee to see. "Great, now we run."

Kaylee took off, but Ziggy frowned.

"Run? Is that what they teach you in Ranger school?"

Kaylee groaned, turning back for Ziggy and pulling his arm, getting him out of the way in time to avoid a laser shot by Tenaya.

-----RPM-----

"Okay, I know you're like, some kind of legend, but seriously, laundry?" Ziggy asked, swatting away a pair of wet underwear as Kaylee checked her surroundings.

"We're clear, for now," she smiled, leaning against the wall.

"Why are we hiding?" Ziggy asked, "Can't you take her down and out?"

"No," Kaylee shook her head. "I need to see what she can do. If she's Venjix' latest and greatest creation, I have to know if the Rangers are up to par to face her."

"Oh, and running is going to prove that."

"We're running to buy the Rangers time to find us," Kaylee smiled.

Ziggy nodded, it sounded fair. He leaned against the wall beside her and pulled the morpher out of his bag.

"Maybe you should hold onto this," he said. Kaylee smiled at him taking the morpher. Then, in a move that surprised Ziggy, she strapped it onto his wrist.

"Hold onto it," she said. "Tenaya might want you to give it to me, or might expect it."

"But I can't protect this! I like my life," Ziggy gulped.

"I'll protect you, Zigs, don't worry. Worst come to worst, I want you to morph."

"Morph? Whoa, whoa, I know you're a little whoohoo sometimes Kaylee, but you want me to be a Ranger?"

Kaylee nodded and Ziggy's jaw dropped to the floor.

"You know Dr. K would have my head if I became the Great Green Ranger, right?"

"I'll talk to the doc," Kaylee laughed.

"I can't be a Ranger! I have noodle arms, my legs are sticks... I failed gymnastics because I couldn't do a somersault and when the going gets tough, the tough gets Ziggy and pummels it!"

Kaylee laughed and turned to the young teen.

"You know, you remind me a lot of me," she smiled. "Don't change, Ziggy, and you would make the perfect Green Ranger. You know, I need someone like you on this team, and I tried to tell the Doc but..."

"_Mom, Hicks told us Tenaya's an infiltrator. He found Venjix hardware on her and was attacked."_

Kaylee put her necklace to her mouth and answered her daughter.

"Yeah, we kinda figured that out," she laughed. Ziggy looked at her confused, so she showed him the small communication chip. He nodded.

"_Do you know where she went?"_

"Keep a lock on mine and the Series Green signal. She shouldn't be too far behind."

"_We're on our way."_

"Hayden, stay out of this. You're still recovering. Send Sammy or Engel if you have too."

"_I'm fine mom, and Sam and Engel left already. Something about extra training for power stealing. Pink out."_

"Damn it," Kaylee groaned, slamming her hand against the wall.

Suddenly, in the quiet air (cause Ziggy didn't wanna say something to Kaylee when she was pissed off about Hayden not following orders) a tune could be heard.

"Is that the Farmer in the Dell song?" Kaylee asked.

"Is Tenaya whistling it?" Ziggy frowned.

Both turned to each other, "Freaky."

A hand dropped onto Ziggy's shoulder and pulled him down. Kaylee acted swiftly, grabbing the hand and pulling on it. Tenaya was pulled out from behind a bed sheet and forced to let go of Ziggy.

"Zigs, hide," Kaylee told the boy. He nodded and started to run. But he couldn't just leave Kaylee here. She didn't know what she was up against. If something happened to her, it would be his fault.

Tenaya's leg swung around, and almost his Kaylee in the face, but Ziggy grabbed the bed sheet from the cloth lines and turned it into a whip. He whipped it at Tenaya and it wrapped around her leg. When he pulled on it, she went tumbling down, giving Kaylee time to run with him.

"Resourceful," Kaylee smirked as the two bolted.

"You said we had to buy some time," Ziggy called to the mentor, pulling out a business card from his pocket. Kaylee frowned. "Tenaya saved me from the Scorpion cartel, that's how I found her."

"Well get this plan in motion, Zigs," Kaylee told him, turning sharply into an alley. She let Ziggy take the lead, and looked over her shoulder, making sure Tenaya wasn't onto them.

-----RPM-----

Ziggy and Kaylee ran into a stadium, and just before being spotted by Fresno Bob and his cartels, Ziggy pushed Kaylee against the wall.

"If these guys recognise you this plan is going to suck," he told her, giving her sunglasses and pulling her hood over her hair. He also gave her the morpher and pulled a green sweater out of his bag to hide his wrist. Chances were Tenaya had seen it already.

"Oh, fans of me and Kira?"

"No, not quite," Ziggy frowned. "Just follow my lead."

Ziggy ran out into the open, where Fresno Bob spotted him. Kaylee's jaw dropped when she saw where she was, but she had to trust Ziggy.

"Ziggy!" Bob smiled, "I must say, you never fail to surprise me."

Two of the men with Bob grabbed Ziggy, while the other two grabbed onto Kaylee. She quickly pulled them off and glared at them through her glasses. They were lucky she couldn't pull some ninja ass kicking on them.

"Ow, okay, let go, let go," Ziggy told the two men holding him. "Here, you told me to give you what I owe, all the money is in this bag."

"Ziggy," Bob frowned, taking the bag and holding it up. "What you owe doesn't fit in any bag. You know that."

Tenaya suddenly dropped the from the roof and smirked.

"Hand it over," she called to Ziggy and Kaylee.

"Okay, now she's pissing me off," Kaylee growled.

"Alright, T, can I call you T?" Ziggy asked, rolling his sleeves up. "The morpher is in the bag that Bob is holding. You'll have to ask him for it."

Tenaya glared at the older mobster and charged. While the Scorpions tried to defend themselves, Ziggy pulled Kaylee away.

"Alright," Kaylee smiled, ducking behind a wall and giving Ziggy the morpher back. "Great plan, but sooner or later those guys are going to realise they've been fooled, and no one will be happy."

"No one is happy," Ziggy pointed out.

Kaylee sighed, poking her head out around the wall to check up on her "friends".

"Uh, Zigs, it's sooner," she said, pushing him out of the way. Ziggy frowned, but when he saw Tenaya was running for him, he took off.

"Alright, now that I've seen what you can do, it's time for me to kick some robotic ass!" Kaylee yelled, charging towards Tenaya.

Ziggy made it outside with a grin on his face. He knew exactly where he was, and he knew he and Kaylee could make it back to the garage before Tenaya caught up to them.

"Alright, Kaylee, we're almost there," he told her, but heard nothing in response. He turned, but she wasn't beside him.

"Oh shit," he groaned, strapping the morpher on.

"Ziguardo!"

Ziggy turned and saw all the Rangers running over to him, in their Ranger suits.

"Guys, you came just in time," he told them, before there was a small explosion. Debris from the stadium fell down as Kaylee was thrown into the wall by Tenaya. As a result of her enhanced strength, Kaylee's body didn't stop when she hit the wall, but broke right through it, causing her to land outside.

"MOM!" Hayden screamed, powering down and running over to her mom's side. Ziggy could see the other Rangers drop into their stances, ready to attack as Tenaya stepped into the light, with her visor down.

"The Great Green Ranger lost her touch," she laughed. Swiftly, she grabbed Ziggy's wrist, her hand on the morpher, "Now, noodle arms, hand it over."

"Over my dead body," Ziggy growled.

Kaylee coughed as Hayden helped her up.

"Rangers, fall back," she ordered, shocking her team. "Ziggy, you know what to do."

"Are you sure, Kaylee?" Ziggy asked hesitantly.

Kaylee nodded before barking out more orders, "Rangers, fall back and don't get involved until things get ugly. Ziggy, power up. I'll deal with the talking letter."

Ziggy pulled the little lever on morpher and was instantly transformed into the Green Ranger.

The others stood in shock. This was so not where they saw things going.

"What are you going to do now, Tenaya?" Ziggy asked. "You can't have the morpher!"

Ziggy stuck his tongue out, but it hit the inside of the helmet, "Right."

"Tenaya swung at him, connecting with the side of his head and knocking him down. Ziggy groaned, holding his head.

"Oh, I did not see that coming.

Tenaya held her foot over Ziggy and smirked.

"Okay, I regret this!" Ziggy called out, protecting himself with his arms. "This isn't fun! I don't wanna be a Ranger anymore. I don't wanna be a Power Ranger!"

Fortunately for Ziggy, Dillon took this as Kaylee's definition of ugly and tackled Tenaya to the ground. The robot got to her feet and growled.

"You haven't won," Tenaya growled. "He's the most pathetic Ranger I've seen."

She laughed as she turned to walk off. Kaylee growled at the attack bot before flipping her the bird.

"Don't listen to her Ziggy," she smiled. "You're my Ranger. With a little bit of training, and courage, you'll be up to speed with everyone."

-----RPM-----

Ziggy stood on a platform, still in Ranger uniform as Kaylee prepared to present her candidate for the morpher to Dr. K. The other Rangers already had disappointed looks on their faces, but Dr. K couldn't see them at the moment, so this wasn't a tip off.

Dillon was really the only one who didn't seem to hate Kaylee's choice. Sure, he agreed that Ziggy wasn't the most qualified and he was a little pathetic, but Ziggy saw potential in him. He could at least return the favour.

"Alright, creepy Doc K computer screen," Kaylee started, "May I present to you the seventh member of our team, Ranger L-Green."

A camera zoomed in on the L-Green Ranger, meaning Dr. K was watching as Ziggy powered down.

"_Kaylee,"_ Dr. K growled. _"You remember the tests for Ranger L-Green?"_

"Yeah," Kaylee nodded.

"_What happened to that?"_

"Look, K, you told Ziggy he had to guard the morpher with his life. Well guess what, he did!" Kaylee explained. "I know he's not ideal, yet, but I see a lot in this little guy!"

"But he's just a wee thing," Flynn spoke up, "and the bonding is permanent... what if he can't qualify?"

"I stand at five feet tall," Kaylee growled. "I was no less _wee_ when I was a Ranger, and I'm a legend."

"_I'm not sure this Operator arrangement is going to work..."_

"Dr. K, shut up," Kaylee snapped. "This is my Team of Rangers. I designed the morphers and I recruited the core five."

"_And you did an excellent job..."_

"So why don't you trust me with this?"

The Rangers all backed away and tried to find something else to do. They had never seen Kaylee and Dr. K argue about anything and didn't want to get in the way. They left the room so Ziggy, Dr. K and Kaylee could speak alone.

"_The amount of training that would be required to prepare..."_

"Hey, feel free to train away!" Ziggy smiled, hoping this would help calm things down.

"Look, Dr. K, every team needs balance. We have Flynn, Mike and Dillon, the power and strength of the team. Those three could take out an entire village on their own. Then we have Scott, Summer and you, the minds of the team. If there is a problem, one of you would already be on the case. Hayden and I are the hearts, but face it; we're a little lacking on that end. I'm not a Ranger, and Hayden's not exactly the perfect heart. But Ziggy is! I know he cares about this city and the people in it."

"I do!" Ziggy added.

"Look, he may not be smart, or strong or brave, but he's got heart."

"_Kaylee, there is nothing I can do, you'll have your way with this. But I'm not happy with it, at all."_

The computer screen was turned off.

Kaylee turned to Ziggy, "Well, congratulations from me at least."

"At least someone believes in me," Ziggy sighed.

"Hey, Zigs, the others will come too soon enough," Kaylee assured him, putting her hand on his shoulder, "Just give them time and be yourself. I think you're perfect for the L-Green suit."

"Thanks, Kaylee," Ziggy smiled.


	5. Handshake

Hayden could hear the car engines roaring in the background as another alpha male challenge was going on in the garage. Scott and Dillon were probably out there trying to see who had the better car. Thanks to the little dispute between Dr. K and Kaylee, the Rangers had a little time off (except shield training for Dillon. He was about to get the bad news).

"_Ranger Series Black, please report to the Main Room!"_

And there was the bad news.

But, even with all that commotion, rivalry and fighting, Hayden had her mind on one thing and one thing only. The black and white, tuxedo cat sleeping on her lap.

Karly was now nineteen years old and any day was her last. Sadly, Hayden was slowly starting to realise that day was today.

"Karls, you'll be okay," Hayden whispered to her cat, holding her close. "I promise. Nothing bad is going to happen today. It'll be you and me, just like the old days."

_Meow._

Karly cuddled up against Hayden, resting peacefully, until Dillon burst into the main room. Karly jumped out of Hayden's lap and ran.

"_Ranger Operator Series Black..."_

"Just call me Dillon," Dillon interrupted the computer screen. Hayden snickered, watching her cat leave the room. Karly would come back when she wanted too.

"_I would prefer to keep our relationship as impersonal as possible," _K explained.

"Really? Because I picture us as the warm and fuzzy type."

Hayden gagged. The mental image of Dillon, the cyborg, cuddling K, the computer screen, freaked her out.

Dillon looked over his shoulder at the blonde girl and rolled his eyes.

"_It's easier this way."_

"Easier for who?"

"_Your ability to drive the Series Black Zord attack Vehicle is needed to add fire power to the Megazord."_

"If that thing has a steering wheel, then I can drive it," Dillon assured the doc.

"_In order to channel enough energy to power the Zord you must first master your suit's Invincibility shield bursts."_

"No offense Doc, but how can I be sure this shield thing actually works?" Dillon asked. "I'm not invincible like Princess. I'm just super resistant."

"Same thing," Hayden shrugged.

"_The invincibility shield works fine. If there's a problem, it's with you."_

Hayden giggled and Dillon glared at her, shutting her up.

"_To achieve maximum power, you must have faith that the shield would protect you. Any doubt would disrupt the flow of energy from the bio field."_

"Absolute faith, got it," Dillon shrugged.

"_I'm going to train you to expect any attack from any place. You must be accustomed to placing yourself in the path of immediate danger."_

Hayden whispered to Dillon.

"When you're invincible, it comes naturally."

Dillon rolled his eyes and powered up. As soon as the helmet was on, Hayden smacked him on the back of the head. Dillon looked down at her and growled.

"That wasn't a part of training," Hayden muttered, "but the moment was too perfect to pass up."

"Get out," Dillon yelled, shoving Hayden aside.

As a blaster was lowered from the roof, Hayden walked out. She knew Karly would come back when she was good and ready, but Hayden had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she was sure it wasn't her mother's cooking.

-----RPM-----

Summer played the first turn on the pool table, and knocked almost every ball into the pockets. As she recomposed herself to look down at her skills, Ziggy looked up in shock.

It had been a few days since he became a Ranger, and his team was slowly coming around. They all still thought he was physically the weakest on the team, but after watching his training with Kaylee, they all saw he wanted to become better and stronger.

"What are you, psychic or something?" Ziggy asked the yellow Ranger. She looked up at him and shrugged.

"Something," she breathed.

Dillon walked into the room with an annoyed look on his face as Dr. K spoke.

"_Ranger Series Black, you still owe me three minutes of shield training."_

"Bill me!" Dillon called, making his way to the fridge.

Hayden walked in with Karly trailing beside her. When they entered the room, Hayden went to the pool table with her friends, while Karly made her way across the kitchen to get to her food bowl.

Dillon opened the fridge door and looked inside, before having to pull away as a cannon popped out.

"You have got to be kidding," he sighed.

Dillon was blasted across the room, and some of the blast accidentally hit Karly. The cat jumped up in fear and bolted for the open garage door.

"Karly!" Hayden yelled, running after her cat, which once outside, would never come home. Mike and Summer were right behind her.

The blaster was about to power up again, when Kaylee ran into the room. She heard the blast and heard Hayden yell for Karly.

"Cease fire, K!" she yelled. The cannon powered down, but the white screen was now red.

"_Don't tell me what to do!"_

"Rangers, go help Hayden find my cat!" Kaylee ordered.

"Great, my first mission is to locate an old cat," Ziggy frowned.

Kaylee sighed, "The shield have been lowered temporarily to allow workers to dispose of excess garbage. If Karly gets outside, she's done for."

"Oh..."

"I don't get it," Dillon frowned picking himself off the floor. "The cat's already as good as dead. Maybe this is just..."

"Just go after that cat. It means more to me and Hayden than most of you guys!" Kaylee frowned.

-----RPM-----

Karly was running as fast as her old legs could carry her. She was trying to find somewhere to hide after being attacked by the fridge cannon.

She saw an opening in the shields and bolted for it.

The sound of engines purred behind her, and Karly figured humans were on her trail. She made it outside the city shield and ran through the desert.

"Karly!" Hayden called.

Karly didn't look back. She was focused on finding some place safe to hide. She knew a human created the cannon that attacked her, they weren't safe.

"C'mon, Kitty!" Hayden called again.

Karly looked back, but only to make sure there was still a big enough distance between her and the humans.

She wasn't paying attention to where she was going and tripped on a rock. Her momentum pushed her forward, and the poor cat landed in a pool of radioactive water.

"Karly!" Hayden yelled as Summer stopped her bike beside the puddle. The Pink Ranger hopped off, removing her helmet.

"Careful," Mike told his cousin as she reached into the water. He knew how dangerous the radiation could be. After his sister was sprayed with some (he would never forgive himself for not protecting her), she was left blind.

Hayden pulled her cat out of the puddle and held Karly close.

_Meow..._

"Shh," she whispered. "I'll take you home Karly."

"Well, well, looky what I found," Tenaya smirked, standing before the Ranger. "Seven Rangers and one old cat, out in the desert, far away from their dome."

"Out of the way, Tenaya," Scott frowned, "We don't want to fight."

"Too bad," Tenaya smiled, "You're in my playground, you do as I say."

"I don't like you," Hayden grumbled.

"I'm not a big fan of you either, Pink Ranger."

Tenaya suddenly attacked, taking most of the Rangers off guard. When she arrived at Dillon, she found a worthy opponent.

Hayden didn't join the battle. She was too worried about her cat.

"Come on, Karly," Hayden pulled her jacket off, exposing more of her skin to the poisonous air. She wrapped her jacket around the cat and dried her off, taking off as much water as she could. "You'll be okay, kitty."

When Hayden pulled the jacket off the cat, she noticed something different. For the first time in years, Karly's coat was shinning like it had been when she was a young cat. She also noticed that Karly had shrunk and was now a lot smaller. She wasn't as small as she was when she was a kitten, but she was once again the slim, athletic cat Hayden only knew when she was a young child.

"Karly... are you going to be okay."

"Me?" Karly meowed, only to realise, it wasn't a meow, but a word. "Me... me ow... ow... me ow."

Hayden dropped her cat. This was way too freaky.

"Hayden!" Mike yelled as he was slammed onto the ground and Tenaya stood over him, ready to finish him off like she had done the others. "A little help!"

"Okay, you demon cat, whatever happened to you, it'll have to wait," Hayden told the kitty. She threw her jacket down and jumped into the air. Kicking her foot up before landing, Hayden connected with Tenaya's jaw, forcing her off Mike.

"He's got a girlfriend, T," Hayden smirked, "And she's twice the woman you are... and not just because you're only half human."

"You think you can stop me?" Tenaya laughed.

"Well, no one can really stop me," Hayden shrugged. "I be invincible!"

"Oh, that is so lame," Karly frowned, slamming her paw into her forehead. She suddenly froze. Did she just say something... in human speak?

"Whoa!" Hayden screamed as she was thrown over to the others, knocking them back down.

While the boys tried to help Hayden back up after the brutal beating she received at the hands of Tenaya, Summer was already on her feet, growling.

That didn't intimidate Tenaya, who pulled a blaster out. She aimed it for Summer and fired.

Dillon looked up as Summer tried to protect herself with her arms. He knew that wasn't going to do much, so he jumped up in front of her.

"Invincibility shield!" he called, powering up his shield. It only lasted for five seconds, but that was all he needed to protect Summer.

Tenaya growled and tried shooting another blast, this time aiming it at Hayden, the newbie Ranger, and the other boys.

Karly saw Tenaya threatening Hayden and hissed. She jumped onto Tenaya's face and scratched it.

"Leave my human alone!" she yelled, leaving a claw mark across the cyborg's face. Tenaya screamed, dropping beside Scott's car.

"Whoa..." Summer frowned, looking at Karly, then at Hayden. "Did Karly just... speak?"

"I don't know," Hayden breathed, watching the scene. Karly, the formerly old (was that possible) cat was actually scaring Tenaya off.

The Cyborg put her hand under Scott's car, before jumping up and hiding that hand behind her back.

"This isn't the last of me, Power Rangers," she frowned, running off.

Karly smiled, and turned to the humans. "I did it! You all said I was old, but I just kicked robot ass!"

The now young cat jumped into Hayden's arms and smiled, "Did you see that, human? I totally saved you guys."

Hayden was speechless. All she could do was reach out and poke her cat.

"Ow, why would you do that, you silly human?"

"Mom!" Hayden frowned, bringing her morpher to her mouth. "Help!"

"_Bring her back to the base... and bring back a sample of the water she fell in."_

-----RPM-----

While Kaylee analysed the water and the freaky cat, Dr. K was briefing Dillon and the Rangers on the shield.

"_Ranger Black, I see you now have full trust in my work."_

"It's not your work I have a problem with," Dillon frowned. "It's you."

Scott shook his head. He could not believe he was hearing this. Without Dr. K, Kaylee wouldn't have been able to bring her technology to life.

"Dillon, you're out of line," he told the Black Ranger.

"Am I?" Dillon asked. "Have you ever met, or seen this Dr. K? It could be anyone, broadcasting from anywhere."

Hayden raised her hand weakly, "My mom's seem, Dr. K," she hesitated.

"_Ranger Black, I assure you, no one wants to destroy the Venjix virus more than me."_

"Well, why don't you hop inside one of these Ranger suits, if you're so eager to save the world," Dillon barked.

Kaylee walked in just as Dillon stormed off. He brushed past her, not even acknowledging her presence and the smile on her face. The mentor was cradling Karly, scratching the happy cat's stomach.

"Good news, guys," she smiled, the Rangers all turning their attention to her. They were all worrying about the cat. "The radiation in the water seemed to reverse the aging effect on Karly and returned her to her young self."

"Then why is she talking?" Mike asked, pointing to the cat.

"You humans are so slow. I thought you were supposed to be the most evolved creatures," Karly sighed. "I fell into a pool of radiation..."

"It was a puddle," Flynn corrected the cat, before it clicked that he had to correct a _cat_.

"The radiation allowed me to harness the ability to speak like you humans."

"Great," Mike breathed, "now she's going to be all smart mouth, in English!"

"Look, I know this will take some getting used to, but if I can adapt to a talking ninja master guinea pig, then you guys can get used to a smart-ass, sarcastic talking cat," Kaylee laughed, hugging her kitty. "Dismissed."

-----RPM-----

Once dismissed, the Rangers went to doing what they all did best.

Flynn was in the kitchen with Dillon. The Blue Ranger was making a smoothie, while the Black Ranger was reading a book.

"Dillon, could you pass me a peach?" the blue Ranger asked. Dillon looked up at his friend and frowned. He wasn't a servant. He turned back to his reading, leaving Flynn hanging. Sadly, because the Scotsman had his back turned to Dillon, he didn't know he was being ignored and was waiting for the peach to land in his hand.

Karly was watching the scene from the top of the fridge and sighed. Humans were so unaware.

Karly shook her head until she spotted something black crawling on the fruit bowl. She was the only black pet the Rangers could keep, how dare something else invade her territory. And if this new pet was going to steal her humans, it was going to have to pass initiation.

Karly lowered herself, ready to pounce on the new creature, until she got a better look at it.

It was a human hand.

"Ew," Karly frowned, backing away as the hand grabbed a peach and placed it in Flynn's hand.

The hand jumped off the counter and walked out of the room.

"Thank you, Dillon," Flynn smiled, and Dillon looked up. He didn't do anything.

Karly buried her head in her paws. Humans were so stupid. And because they were, she took it upon herself to follow the creepy hand.

The hand made its way into the main room and used the computer to lock all the HQ doors, locking the rangers in. Karly watched it suspiciously.

The hand was happy with its work and turned around and headed for the living room for a little fun. Karly followed it, keeping her guard up. The rest of her humans were in that room.

When Karly saw the hand was headed for Ziggy, she stopped. Should she alert the Green Ranger he was about to be attacked by five walking fingers, or leave him be.

She decided to leave him be. Telling him a hand could move on its own after she just gained the ability to talk would be too much for the green Ranger.

The Hand walked over to Ziggy and climbed up its leg. Karly groaned. How could he not feel that? When the hand reached his waist, it grabbed onto the little bit of underwear that was sticking out and pulled it up.

Ziggy screamed as he was lifted off the ground by his underwear. All the Rangers, and Kaylee, turned to look at him and were surprised to see a hand.

The hand let go and Ziggy dropped to the ground. Karly pounced on the hand as it ran off towards the pool table.

"_Rangers, I'm picking up an intruder,"_ Dr. K announced.

"Really?" Scott asked sarcastically.

"Even you smart humans are idiots," Karly called out, jumping for the hand, but missing. The hand disappeared inside one of the pockets, and Karly knew she couldn't fit, so she stood over it, watching and waiting for the hand to come up.

The Summer, Flynn, Hayden, Ziggy and Mike grabbed a pool stick and armed themselves, while the others stood guard.

"AH!" Scott yelled, and the Rangers, Kaylee and Karly looked up at him, seeing a bulge in his shirt. "It's in my shirt!"

"What?" Karly asked, looking down at her hole she had guarded so well. She shrugged it off when Scott fell onto the pool table and started rolling around, while the others smacked him with their pool sticks, hoping to get the hand.

"Ow! Guys! Stop!" Scott yelled.

"Whack him!" Karly encouraged the team. "That's right, you almost got it! Oh, one more blow should do the trick! Don't worry about bruising, Scott'll heal!"

Karly realised whacking Scott wasn't going to do the trick, even if it was funny, and pounced on him. She landed on the hand and bit it.

The hand jumped out of Scott's shirt and ran back inside one of the pockets. Karly glared at the pool table with a smirk.

"You won't escape my cat eyes," she taunted the hand.

It suddenly jumped out of one of the pockets, and Karly pounced on it, knocking it back inside the table. After a few seconds, the hand jumped out of another pocket and Karly repeated her attack.

The little game of cat and mouse continued until Karly got her prey and knocked it onto the table. Summer smirked, using her pool stick and playing a little game of pool with the hand.

"Smack it!" Karly cheered as Summer hit the hand with the stick. The hand flew through the hair and Ziggy swung his pool stick, hitting it. The hand flew in the other direction and landed beside Dillon. He tried to grab it, but it outsmarted him, jumping away until it grabbed his shirt and pulled him forward.

While the Rangers helped Dillon back to his feet, the hand ran for the laser torch. It fired at all the Rangers, knocking them down, then aimed it for Kaylee.

That's when Karly interfered, jumping in the way of the torch and staring at the hand.

"It's you and me, you freakish walking hand," she hissed. "No one messes with my master."

Karly pulled out her claws and swiped at the hand, knocking the torch out of her hand.

"Hey, idiot smart person!" Karly called, jumped off the table, making the hand follow her as she ran to the fridge. "Thinking what I'm thinking?"

"_I do not like to be made fun of,"_ K growled.

"Well, I don't like when my humans are attacked, so help me out!" Karly yelled. She jumped up on the fridge door handle, causing it to swing open as the cannon popped out. The hand was in the path of danger as Dr. K powered up the cannon and fired it.

The force of the impact destroyed the hand, and the Rangers laughed.

Karly bowed as she jumped up on Ziggy's head.

"And that is how you hunt your prey," she smirked.

"I'm proud of you guys," Kaylee smiled, picking her cat up off Ziggy's head. "You all worked as a team and trusted each other."

"I won't make that mistake again," Scott frowned, rubbing his bruises.

"Some of us trust each other more than others," Dillon scoffed, looking up at the computer screen.

"_I've been thinking about what you said, Ranger Black, about you guys not knowing who I am..."_

The computers suddenly powered down and a door opened it. The Rangers stepped inside and found a control room.

"This is where Dr. K was broadcasting from," Kaylee explained. "But I don't know where she is."

Kaylee spun the chair around and frowned. There was no one there.

"Hello Rangers," Dr. K's voice came from behind everyone and they turned around, spotting a fifteen year old girl in a lab coat and a headset that altered her voice. She took it off and spoke once more. "I'm Dr. K."

K noticed all the strange looks from the Rangers, who up until now thought she was a dude, and frowned.

"What, you thought I would be taller?" she asked.

No one wanted to tell her what they really thought, fearing they would offend her. Karly however didn't have that problem.

"You stupid human, we thought you would be a male!"

Kaylee kicked her cat then picked her up to cover her mouth. She already knew K was a girl, but realised she had never told the Rangers and understood their shock.


	6. Ranger LGreen

Ziggy snuck into Dr. K's lab and slowly made his way over to the weapon she was designing. He picked it up, careful not to accidentally fire it, and pretended to use it.

"Please don't touch that," Dr. K barked, her head popping up from behind the computer screens. "It's a sonar sound wave blasting cannon, and it's untested."

Dr. K's head fell back behind the monitors. Ziggy quickly put the weapon down and ran over to her, while Karly jumped up on his head for a nap. His hair was usually very messy, but it was that kind of mess that made it comfortable for a cat to nap.

Ziggy looked down at the doctor who despised him so, and frowned.

"Why are you staring at me?" Dr. K asked when she noticed she was being watched.

"I thought you would be a dude," Ziggy explained, keeping his gaze on her.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, well, you know, the whole K screen and the electronic voice... I would have laid odds that you were a dude."

"Looks like we were both disappointed," Dr. K frowned.

"Alright, Zigster," Kaylee called, walking into the training room with a chart and Ziggy's morpher. She gave it to him, powering him up. "Time to train."

"Alright," Ziggy smiled, pulling off his helmet. Karly jumped off the helmet as he did and frowned.

"Human, I was napping," she told Ziggy. He smiled nervously, bending down to pet her.

"Sorry, but I have to train. Go sleep on Scott's hair."

"I would prefer to watch you humans make fools of yourselves. Over the years I've found it quite entertaining."

"She has," Kaylee nodded. "Anyways, I've designed the Series L-Green suit to allow you to use the bio-field as a gateway to instantaneously transport from one point to another. In other words, you will be able to Zwop, but there will be no cool popping noise of green smoke."

"So, what's the worst that can happen?" Ziggy asked.

"Well, you could beam yourself directly into a solid wall or into the center of the earth's molten magma core, or thousands of feet below the Earth's deepest ocean..." Dr. K saw Kaylee's motioning for her to stop and Ziggy's uncomfort at her explanation of the worst that could happen should his training go wrong, which she was sure would because Ziggy was incompetent. "He asked me for worst case Teleportation scenarios!"

"It was a rhetorical question," Karly sighed. She looked up to Kaylee and frowned, "Was she seriously the brains behind these operations?"

"Karly, don't you have other humans to annoy?" Kaylee asked the cat.

"No, I would rather watch as you humans attempt to bend the laws of physics."

"Whatever," Kaylee rolled her eyes. "Alright, Zigs, anytime you're ready."

Ziggy put his helmet back on and took a deep breath.

"Alright, GO!" Ziggy called, pushing a button on his morpher.

Kaylee's jaw dropped, Karly hid her head and Dr. K smirked as they saw the results.

"Hey, something feels different," Ziggy smiled under his helmet. "I think it worked. I did it! Look at me!"

"Foolish human, look down!" Karly frowned. Ziggy looked down and saw he was in nothing but his underwear.

"I'm willing to lay odds that this isn't exactly the first test you've ever failed?" Dr. K pointed out, before being hushed by Kaylee.

_Ziggy was in the driver's seat of a car, ready to take his test as the instructor got in._

"_Mr. Ziggy Grover?"_

"_Yes sir, that's me," Ziggy answered the instructor as both put on their seatbelts._

"_Well, why don't we start out with something simple?" the instructor suggested. "Just back out and we'll go from there."_

"_You got it," Ziggy smiled, putting the car in what he thought was the right gear and turning to look out the back window. As Ziggy pressed his foot on the gas, the car sped forward, slamming into another one._

_-----RPM-----_

"_Ziggy, Ziggy, Ziggy," Fresno Bob breathed, looking up at the hopeful to join as the newest member of his cartel. "I really want you to join the Scorpion cartel, but you failed your driver's licence for the fifth time..."_

"_Fourth!" Ziggy corrected him quickly. "That guy has to be discharged from the hospital before he can officially flunk me!"_

"_It doesn't matter. I still have my doubts about if you have what it takes to be part of our criminal enterprise. You have to know who you are on the inside."_

"_Fresno Bob, trust me. I know who I am," Ziggy assured the white haired man, "On the inside and out!"_

_The ground suddenly started to shake as a warning flashed on the TV warning the world to flee to Corinth city._

-----RPM-----

"Look, I probably not your first choice for the green Ranger..."

"I didn't choose you at all," Dr. K growled as Ziggy followed her through the rooms, trying to get her to like him.

"Yeah... but remember what Kaylee said! What I lack in strength and size and speed..."

"And coordination and reflexes, judgment instincts, leadership, common sense..." Dr. K added.

"I make up for in heart!" Ziggy blurted out, seeing as it was the only way K would shut up. "Look, if you just got to know me."

"I don't want to get to know you," K frowned.

"Why not? I'm a person! It turns out, you're a person..."

Karly pounced on Ziggy's shoulder and sat there, glaring at him.

"I see where human interaction is flawed," she frowned.

"Look, give me one good reason why the two of us can't be friends?" Ziggy begged the doctor.

K looked up at him with a knowing look.

"I don't like you."

"Oh."

"There was one human I didn't like," Karly mused, remembering her first year with her human. "Her name was Ronny... she wouldn't let me play with her lucky socks. She won the battle after saving the world and got to take her socks home, but I was only a kitten then. Next time I see that sad excuse for a human I will get my revenge, and those socks will be mine."

Ziggy turned to look at the cat on his shoulder and started feeling uncomfortable with her so close.

Suddenly, the alarm went off, alerting the Rangers of trouble. Flynn walked over and looked up to the Screen where Dr. K used to speak from.

"Alright, so what's on the menu for today, good doctor?" he asked the screen, before realising it was blank. Ziggy tried to hold back a laugh as Dr. K looked over at the blue Ranger.

Karly buried her head in her paws.

Flynn realised his mistake and turned to K.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so used to you being up there."

"Did you think she was a dude?" Ziggy asked the blue Ranger, knowing he would get the backup he needed to prove to Dr. K her surprise reveal was more of a surprise than she had planned.

"It's some kind of magnetic disturbance," Dr. K announced as the other rangers piled into the room around the screens.

"It's a Venjix attack bot," Scott added.

"It's interfering with the Central city computer banks," Summer frowned.

"Why are you all standing here telling us what it's doing?" Karly breathed. "Shouldn't you guys run out there to try and stop it?"

-----RPM-----

Following Karly's orders, which was still weird as hell, the Rangers were running to the middle of the city.

"_Ziggy, you're going to have to use your teleportation to bypass that monster's magnetic interference with the bank shit,"_ Kaylee announced to Ziggy and the Rangers.

"Ziggy has to do it?" Kaylee asked. "No offence to Ziggy, but is he ready for that?"

"Hey, I'm totally up for this!" Ziggy smiled.

"Alright," Hayden nodded. "C'mon guys, let's take care of this giant magnet!"

While the Rangers distracted the attack bot, Ziggy was fumbling around, trying to find the right button to push on his morpher.

"_The one that say ZWOP you idiot!"_ Karly yelled.

"Oh," Ziggy pushed the button, and in a flash of green light (with no smoke or zwopping noise) he was gone.

"Whoa, where did he go?" Mike asked.

"Ziggy, do you read me?" Scott asked through the communicator.

"Distract now, find Ziggy later," Hayden ordered as all the Rangers slammed their weapons down on the monster. It shook off the pain then ran off.

"Um..." Mike frowned.

"_Rangers, report!"_

"We're fine, Doc K, but the Venjix attack bot..." Scott started but was brutally interrupted by Flynn.

"The giant magnet got away!" Flynn reported to the Doc, before hitting his helmet with his hand. "Oh, I cannot believe I just said that."

"Um, guys... we're also missing a Ranger," Summer pointed out.

-----RPM-----

Ziggy opened his eyes and found himself in a dark room.

"Where am I?" he asked in a panic, touching around to find his way out. He picked something up before the door was pulled open by a security guard.

Ziggy noticed he was holding bricks of gold in his hand and standing inside the bank vaults.

"Oh, this looks really bad, doesn't it?" he asked.

-----RPM-----

Ziggy, Summer, Dillon and Hayden were in the prison room with Col. Truman, interrogating Ziggy. Hayden sat down beside the Colonel, while Dillon and Summer stood behind her.

"I couldn't teleport back into that vault if I tried," Ziggy told the four before him, "it was an accident! I'm totally incompetent."

"Dr. K, Kaylee, can you two vouch for this?" Truman asked into the monitor, where the two mentors were joining the five via computer communication.

"The incompetent part, yes," Dr. K nodded.

"No," Kaylee shook her head. "I know Ziggy... he's not a criminal."

Kaylee figured that he did have a past with the cartles after their little run in, but refused to believe Ziggy was a part of that gang. He was too good.

"I beg to differ," Truman frowned, holding up Ziggy's criminal records. Hayden, Summer and Dillon's jaw dropped at the size.

"Mom, do you see that?" Hayden asked.

"Ziggy was with Fresno Bob when they set up in Corinth," Truman smirked. He leaned in closer to Ziggy, "Right?"

"Well, you see... it started like this..."

-----RPM-----

"_We'll be back! And next time, Fresno Bob and the Scorpion Cartel won't be so nice!"_

"_Yeah! What he said!" Ziggy yelled to the Owner of the Store he just robbed, Storm Chargers._

-----RPM-----

"Whoa... whoa..." Kaylee frowned, cutting the story. "You were one of the people who tried to rob Kelly?"

"You know her?" Ziggy asked hesitantly.

"She's my sister... kinda..."

"Whoops."

-----RPM-----

_The man Ziggy was with put his hand on Ziggy's shoulder._

"_You gotta get tough, Zig," he coached. "Show the world you mean business."_

"_Oh, I mean business," Ziggy assured his partner, "but that owner knew how to fight back."_

"_Whatever, are you ready for the next place?"_

_-----RPM-----_

_Ziggy walked up to the door of his next job and knocked._

"_I'm here for Fresno Bob's money!" he called as the woman opened the door. She was dressed like a nurse and was smiling happily._

"_Ziggy," she whispered, "Come on in."_

_Ziggy looked around before stepping into the house. He noticed something weird about this place. It was an orphanage and yet there were no kids._

"_Where are the kids?" he asked the woman, who was still smiling, until the mention of the children._

"_The Gamma sickness," the woman stated. "We're doing what we can, but we've spent every dime trying to get medical supplies on the black market."_

_Ziggy made his way over to the bedroom, where the children were all lying in their beds._

"_How many?" he asked._

"_All of them," the woman frowned._

_Ziggy turned to her, "Don't worry Mrs. Williams. I'll help you out."_

-----RPM-----

"All of the cartels want you ghosted," Truman spoke as he paced around the room. "I don't want to know about the Gamma sickness. I want to know what you did to make every single gang member in this city hate you."

Ziggy couldn't say it. He had made a promise to himself and Mrs. Williams.

"I'm sorry."

"Look, I'm with my mom on this one," Hayden frowned. "I don't think Ziggy is a bad person. After all, he was trying to help us when he teleported."

"I don't care about the money anymore," Col. Truman said. "I can about his crimes, which he was never pardoned for."

"You can interrogate him all you want," Hayden said, getting out of her chair and opening the prison doors, "but I'm going to get some inside information on this."

"Hayden, you can't go to the cartels," Summer frowned, following her cousin. "Not alone."

"My car sits five," Hayden pointed out. "And there's only three of us."

-----RPM-----

Hayden, Dillon and Summer quietly made their way through the cartel HQ until they reached a door with a scorpion plate on it.

"Maybe you should wait out here, Princess," Dillon told her. "You're the daughter of Kaylee Hanson: the only person who could bring these people to justice."

"Your point?" Hayden asked, reaching for the doorknob.

Dillon and Summer exchanged glances, hiding their morphers before following Hayden inside. The Military was aware of their Ranger identities, but only a few civilians were. The Cartels were not among the lucky few to know this secret for safety reasons.

Kaylee and the colonel figured that if they knew, they would plan on taking the Ranger down to run the city. After all, with no real police, the military was the only thing keeping the Cartels from total power. If they took out the Rangers, there would be no telling what they would do with the rest of the system.

As far as the cartels knew, Kaylee was not someone to mess with directly, and Hayden was an overprotected Princess. They couldn't get their hands on her if they tried.

Unless she came to them.

"Well, well," Fresno Bob smiled, seeing the three uninvited, but not unwelcomed, guests walking into his "office". "What do we have here? Little Hayden come to play?"

Fresno motioned to his cartels to gab Hayden, but a pointed look from Summer alerted Dillon that something was wrong. He ripped one guy away from Hayden with his bare hands. The others stepped back and Bob smiled.

"Well, I see you came with a little back up," he told Hayden.

"I need to talk," Hayden said, slamming her hands down on the desk. Bob looked up at her.

"It's going to cost you."

"It's about Ziggy," Hayden frowned. "Remember him?"

"Well, there's no secret there," Bob smiled, fixing his tie to get comfortable, while the other Scorpions got into position in front of the door, blocking the way out. "There was the truck."

"A truck?" Dillon asked.

"This truck was parked on the other side of town," Bob explained, "and it had supplies that we needed."

"What supplies?" Hayden asked.

"Supplies we would sell for money," Bob frowned. "All Ziggy had to do was get the truck and drive it back to the HQ."

"That's it?" Summer asked. "Please, my grandmother could do that."

"That was it. All he had to do. It was what was inside the truck that made the job so important. All five of the Cartels were together on this deal," Bob explained. "Ronan's Blue Crew, Spike Mike and the Boys, South Town Sweet Tooths and the Yo-Yo Brothers."

"So what happened?" Dillon asked.

Bob groaned as he looked up, "I think you can guess."

Dillon looked to Summer, who was just as confused as he was.

"Humour us," she frowned, turning to Bob.

"What can I say? The kid's just no good. All that power, all that responsibility... he got greedy. He had to have it all for himself."

"So he stole it?" Hayden asked.

-----RPM-----

"_You're suspending him?"_ Kaylee yelled to Col. Truman as he took away Ziggy's morpher._ "But we don't even know what he did."_

"_We don't know, because he won't tell us,"_ Dr. K frowned.

Kaylee looked at Ziggy through the screen and sighed, "Ziggy, whatever you say, I'm going to believe you. I know you're a good kid. Just tell these guys what you did to make the cartels hate you."

"I can't tell you," Ziggy frowned.

"_Aunt Kaylee, we got the info," _Summer said through the phone, seeing as she and the others were still with Bob. _"Bob told us Ziggy stole from the cartels."_

"_Turns out he is bad to the bone,"_ Dr. K smirked. _"Colonel, take away his morpher."_

Ziggy sighed, removing the morpher from his wrist and handing it to Truman.

"_Summer, Hayden, Dillon, help Flynn, Mike and Scott finish off the Magnet Monster while the Colonel escorts Ziggy to his prison," _Dr. K ordered.

-----RPM-----

"Copy that, Dr. K," Summer sighed, handing the phone back to Fresno Bob. "C'mon guys."

"You know," Fresno smirked, catching the three teens' attention. "I do know where Ziggy took those supplies."

"Tell us," Hayden demanded.

"Whoa, slow down there kid," Bob laughed. "Information about Ziggy is open to the public, it makes him look bad. Details, however, will cost you greatly."

"I don't have any codes or keys with me," Hayden frowned.

"Well, that would be a problem, if you were someone else," Bob smirked.

"You touch my cousin and I'll rip your head off," Summer barked.

Fresno Bob laughed and snapped his fingers. Instantly, two men grabbed Summer, holding her back.

Summer struggled to free herself against the men, but they held her tight and forced her to her knees to limit her struggling. She let out a slight whimper as her knees connected with the hard floor.

Dillon saw her struggle and heard the whimper and lost it. He grabbed one of the men, pulling him away from Summer and threw him into a wall before grabbing the other guy. He picked the second one up by the neck and threw him into the first, knocking them both unconscious.

The commotion alerted the other cartels, who quickly came into the room, holding guns and blasters. Dillon helped Summer to her feet, before pushing her and Hayden behind him.

Just to make things worse, all three trackers in the backpack beeped and Scott's voice filled the room.

"_Guys, where were you? We had to finish off the Attack Bot without you guys."_

"Murphy's Law sucks," Hayden commented as the backpack was ripped from Summer's hands. Bob looked through them before pulling out three RPM morphers.

"Well, well, seems they know more than they're letting on," he smirked, tossing the morphers to his crew. "I see you're all close to Kaylee and the military. That's a lot of power in such young, irresponsible hands."

There was another man, standing in the background. He seemed a little uncomfortable with everything that was going down. When no one was looking, he snuck out.

-----RPM-----

Ziggy was lying in bed in his prison, tossing a ball into the air and catching it. He couldn't believe it, but his past had come back to haunt him.

"Psst, Ziggy!"

Ziggy caught the ball and held it tight as he looked around.

"Who's there?" he called.

The man from the Cartel stepped forward, holding the bars in his hand as he looked over at Ziggy.

"Benny?" Ziggy asked, spotting the man.

"Hey, Ziggy, what how's it going?" Benny smiled, holding up the keys to his prison.

"What are you doing here?"

"Your friends are in trouble," Benny explained, opening the door. "Bob found out their Rangers and plans on using them against the Military and Kaylee."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ziggy asked. "Go tell Kaylee, or Dr. K, or the other Rangers!"

"I can't do that, Ziggy," Benny frowned. "I'm a Scorpion. Why would they believe me? You're their only hope."

-----RPM-----

Dillon tried to run forward and fight off the Cartels, but they had the upper hand with numbers and weapons. Before he could do much damage, Dillon felt something stun him and he dropped to the ground.

"Dillon!" Summer yelled.

Fresno Bob grabbed a random morpher from one of the men and handed it to Hayden.

"Call your mother," he told her.

Hayden frowned, bringing the morpher to her mouth. Summer stopped her from pushing a button though so they could talk.

"Hayden, don't do it," she whispered. "He's just going to get Aunt Kaylee to trade codes for us."

"Aunt Kaylee?" Bob smirked, "Looks like we hit the jackpot. Kaylee's daughter and niece, in my grasp. Call your mother."

Hayden looked up at Summer and nodded. She pushed the communication button on the morpher and waited for her mom to speak.

"_Dillon, where are you guys?"_

"Mom, it's me," Hayden spoke before the tracker was ripped out of her hands.

"Miss Hanson, this is Fresno Bob," he smiled.

"_How did you get the morpher?"_ Kaylee yelled. _"What do you want with the kids?"_

"A trade," Bob smiled. "You niece, daughter and bodyguard come home safely, if you hand your power over to the cartels."

"_Never."_

"Miss Hanson, I'm not sure you remember what I can do," Bob nodded to one of the men. The man smiled maliciously as he grabbed Summer.

"Summer!" Dillon yelled.

"_Let her go."_

The man laughed, holding Summer with one hand, while reaching over to the desk with the other. He picked up various supplies and dropped them on the ground. Upon impact, they made a large _BANG_. The man quickly pulled Summer's hair making her scream in pain before throwing her beside Dillon.

"_SUMMER!"_

"You have 24 hours to hand over your power," Bob spoke, before cutting off communication.

Hayden looked over at Bob.

"Why didn't you actually shoot her?" she asked.

"I'm a criminal, but I don't do murder," Bob explained. "Stealing, money and power is all I want. I can't afford blood on my hands."

Bob sat back down in his chair, "Benny!"

"Yes sir," Benny called, arriving back into the room just in time to hear his name and keep suspicion down.

"Escort these three to the storage closet," Bob smirked. Benny nodded and stepped forward, until the door flew open.

Ziggy stepped into the room with a determined look on his face.

"Ziggy," Bob smirked, seeing his favourite traitor step into the room.

"I'm not here for you, Bob," Ziggy growled.

Instantly, every member of the cartel, minus Bob and Benny, were attacking Ziggy. The Green Ranger screamed, ducking down and covering his head to avoid being hit.

Because there were so many people, no one really knew who they were hitting. Ziggy's small size and flexibility allowed him to escape the dog pile and reach Summer and Dillon on the ground. He smiled at them as Hayden ran over.

"Everyone, hold on," he said, morphing right in front of Bob.

"Ziggy?" Bob frowned.

Ziggy didn't say a word as he pushed the teleportation button on his morpher.

Three _oh shits _rang through the room as all the Rangers disappeared.

-----RPM-----

When the four opened their eyes, they saw they were surrounded by their friends.

Relieved her daughter was safe, Kaylee pulled Hayden to her feet, then into a hug. The boys helped Ziggy up, happy to see him.

Dillon and Summer exchanged happy smiles, before realising how they were seated. Because Summer had been pushed to the ground, Dillon had grabbed onto her and pulled her in close. When Ziggy asked everyone to hold on, Summer had to lean over slightly to grab onto his jacket. This put her on top of Dillon.

Now, she was sitting on his lap.

Both blushed and moved away, before being helped up by Dr. K.

Kaylee noticed Summer was standing and sighed in relief, hugging her niece.

"Thank god," she breathed. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Summer nodded.

Dr. K turned to Ziggy and frowned, "What's he doing out of prison?" she asked.

"He probably saved Project RANGER, the military and our lives," Hayden said, "cut him some slack."

"Not until I know why he did what he did."

"You wanna know?" Ziggy frowned.

"That's what I just said."

"There was a truck," Ziggy started.

"Ah, the famous truck," Dillon laughed.

"I was asked to take the truck back to the cartels," Ziggy explained, "but curiosity got the best of me, and I wanted to know what was inside. So I looked. Do you wanna know what the truck was holding?"

"Supplies?" Dr. K frowned.

"Medical supplies," Ziggy told her. Summer, Dillon and Hayden now managed to put it all together. Ziggy mentioned to children at the orphanage being sick. He also mentioned promising Mrs Williams he would help her out.

"So you played Doctor?" K asked.

"Instead of giving the supplies to the Cartel, I gave them to an orphanage," Ziggy said. "They really needed it. Children were dying. I couldn't just stand there when I had what I could to save them. I gave the supplies to Mrs Williams and she nursed all the kids back to health."

Dr. K and the others stood in shock. Ziggy, their Ziggy, put his neck on the line to help the innocent.

"I couldn't tell you guys, because if the Cartels found out, they would go after the kids..." Ziggy sighed. "Once that was done, I needed to get out. If the Cartels found me, I knew I was done for. My friend Benny helped me out of the city and swore to tell no one about this."

"That's when you found me and held me at gunpoint," Dillon smirked. The Rangers, Dr. K and Karly frowned in confusion, but Dillon laughed it off.

"So, even though the cartels hate you, and want you dead, you still walked right into their HQ and saved these guys?" Kaylee smiled. "Ziggy, I knew I was right in choosing you."

Dr. K stood dumbfounded. The Ziggy she used to think was useless actually did something selfless and dangerous. He risked himself to help others.

She was now seeing him in a new light. He was amazing and more of a man than anyone else she ever met...

_No,_ she scolded herself. _You can't do this again Dr. K. You can't let anyone else come in close._

"I'll talk to Colonel Truman," Kaylee assured her L-Green Ranger with a smile. "I'll tell him to clear your records and pardon you for any offenses. You deserve it Zigs."

"No... no," Ziggy smiled, pulling away from Kaylee. "I just want to be back on the team... if I can."

Kaylee nodded, handing Ziggy his morpher back, which she had retrieved from Truman.

"You're a good man, Ziggy Grover. You got heart."


	7. Kaylee Brooks

_Author's Notes: Thanks to PICKLZDADRUMMER and Neo Aguini for their help with ideas for this chapter._

* * *

"Mama," Christian called, rubbing his eyes as he stood just outside the living room. It was the middle of the night, and he was supposed to be in bed, but by the look in his eyes, Kaylee could tell something was bothering him.

"Hey, buddy," Kaylee whispered, inviting him to sit next to her on the couch, "what are you doing up so late."

"No can sleep," Christian told his mother. He sat down on her lap and pulled his blanket into his mouth. Kaylee wrapped her arms around him and leaned back on the couch.

"You can't sleep?" she asked him. "Well, a little boy like you needs sleep to grow up big and strong like daddy. Show me your muscles, big guy."

Christian lifted his arm and tried to flex. Kaylee gasped and tickled her son.

"Wow, buddy, those are some big muscles!" she laughed playfully. "One day you're going to be the man of this house."

"Save Mayden and Dummer from Venjix," Christian smiled. Kaylee laughed again. Christian was still having trouble with some words and names, therefore Hayden and Summer had their own names in Christian's world.

"I think one day you'll be able to save your sisters," Kaylee smiled.

"Mommy save them?" Christian asked. "When world went boom!"

Kaylee's smile suddenly fell as she glanced quickly at the picture of her old home before the attack.

"Mama, story?" Christian asked, reaching for one of his books. Kaylee turned her attention back to him and pulled the book out of his hand.

"I'm not going to read to you tonight, kiddo," she told him, "Tonight, I think I'm going to tell you the story of how mommy, daddy and Hayden came to Corinth."

"Scary story?" Christian asked eagerly. Kaylee laughed and nodded. She knew her son loved stories that had a little bit of fright in them, but she was still going to keep it G rated.

-----RPM-----

"_I hate it here," thirteen year old Hayden grumbled as she sat on the front steps of her home, with her arms crossed. "Stupid pooperazzi wanting to know about my stupid mom and my stupid Aunt and their stupid, stupid lives."_

"_That's a lot of stupids," Samantha giggled appearing beside her cousin. The two had been excused from school that day on account of pretend stomach ache. To Kira and Kaylee, both their daughters had eaten a nasty piece of pie at dinner the night before. For the two girls, they wanted to avoid the evil principal roaming the halls of their Jr/Sr High School._

"_Well our moms are lots of stupids," Hayden grumbled._

"_Pooperazzi got you down?" Samantha asked._

"_I went to the store, because mom asked me to buy myself some medicine for my stomach... I think she knows I'm faking... and the poops are there snapping pictures and asking strange questions."_

"_Their questions are strange," Sam nodded. "Apparently, I don't have a boyfriend, but I've been pregnant for the past year."_

"_Ooh," Hayden giggled._

"_Yep, master of disguise," Samantha laughed, rubbing her flat stomach. "I think I'm going into month thirteen soon."_

"_Aww, you're getting so big now," Hayden giggled. Both girls continued to laugh, until they saw the head of a reported popping out of the bushes. Hayden rolled her eyes as Samantha grabbed her hand._

"_Tree fort?" the older blonde suggested. The tree fort had been built by Conner and Dustin when the girls were little and was placed in a tree that gave the girls the privacy they needed for reports. It was a failsafe zone for personal discussions and goofs._

_Hayden nodded, and on the count of three, the two girls bolted out of the yard and into the forest behind their Aunt Ronny's house. When they got to the tree, Hayden jumped onto the ladder followed by Samantha._

_The McKnight girl pulled the ladder up with her as she climbed, hiding her fort from the "poops"._

"_There, safe and sound," she smiled. Hayden laughed and nodded as she looked out the window, seeing the reporter look around desperately for the two girls, before giving up._

_Suddenly, the ground started to shake..._

-----RPM-----

"... your daddy and I quickly found your cousin Sammy and Hayden and took them with us to Corinth City," Kaylee finished the story, cutting it short to help it stay G rated, and because Christian had fallen asleep before she could get to the good, scary part for him. The blonde laughed, kissing her son before picking him up and carrying him to his bed.

Kaylee went back to her room and crawled into her bed, cuddling up next to Dustin as she fell asleep.

-----RPM-----

"Ranger Pink, maybe I wasn't clear when I asked for a urine sample," Dr. K frowned, following Hayden around the garage as the pink Ranger rolled her eyes. "I needed you to provide your urine for testing on your healing abilities. I didn't, in any way, need you to provide me with a nice, warm glass of apple juice."

"Aw, but Dr. K, when you're done testing all you have to do is stick a few ice cubs in your glass and drink it all up," Hayden smirked.

Dr. K was not amused. She shoved another plastic glass into Hayden's hands.

"I'll need your sample, just like everyone else's, before three o'clock."

Dr. K turned and walked back into her lab as Hayden made faces behind her back. When the Doctor was gone, Kaylee walked in, carrying little Christian in her arms. Dustin was at work for the day, and the little boy needed to be looked after.

Hayden saw her brother and smiled when Kaylee put him down. She ran over to him and gave him her cup.

"Hey, Chris, if you pee in this cup for me, I'll give you a shiny penny," she offered the boy, pulling out a penny from her pocket and showing her brother.

"Ohh," Christian smiled, taking the cup and the penny. Hayden smirked.

"Hayden, one, Dr. K, none."

"Um, Hayden, I think Dr. K's going to notice the difference..." Kaylee laughed. "Especially when she realises that there are Oreo crumbs in your cup.

Kaylee pointed to Christian, who was having fun stuffing Oreo bits in his cup. Hayden frowned and ran over to her brother.

"No, you're supposed to pee in it!"

Mike walked up to his Aunt and laughed.

"You know, if you had left her in the wastelands it wouldn't have been called murder," he told her.

"I'm thinking about it," Kaylee teased, "right after I leave your dad out there... I never did like him."

Mike rolled his eyes, patting his Aunt on her shoulder.

"How did you get to Corinth City, Aunt Kaylee?" he asked. "You weren't with my family, and Aunt Kira and Uncle Conner got here before you, Uncle Dustin, Hayden and Sammy Jr. did."

Kaylee looked over at her nephew with a fearful look in her eyes.

-----RPM-----

_Hayden and Samantha tried to grab onto anything they could to keep from falling out of the tree. The tree suddenly gave in and snapped, toppling over and bringing the tree house, and the girls, down with it._

_Hayden was the first to surface from the leaves and branches, with Samantha right behind her. Hayden's spontaneous regeneration kicked in, healing her quickly, but Samantha wasn't as fortunate._

"_I think I'm in pain," she frowned, holding her hand over a cut on her upper arm to stop the bleeding._

"_You think?" Hayden asked._

"_Nope, definitely pain."_

_Hayden pulled herself out and made her way over to Sam. Just as she was about to reach her cousin, a strong, metal arm grabbed her by the back of the neck and picked her up._

"_Human survivors must be eliminated."_

"_That does not sound like fun," Hayden frowned, looking down at her cousin. Samantha was looking up fearfully, before something grabbed her. "HEY!" Hayden yelled._

"_Human survivors must be eliminated."_

"_Let go of my cousin!" Hayden screamed, thrashing around. She knew what with her injuries from the tree fall, Samantha was going to be in no condition to fight off whatever had taken her._

_Hayden's legs came up, kicking whatever was holding her in the stomach area and causing it to let go of her. She turned around and got a good look at the robot before her._

"_Oh, shit," she cursed._

"_Let me go!" Samantha yelled. Hayden's attention turned to her cousin and she jumped out of the way as the robot brought it's sword down._

_Hayden landed beside Samantha and pulled her away from the robot, standing in front of her._

"_Hay, don't play stupid," Sammy told her cousin._

"_I'm not," Hayden yelled. She helped Sammy to her feet and the two began to run, before Samantha pulled a Kira._

_The McKnight girl tripped over a branch sticking out of the ground and landed in the mud. Hayden heard the impact and turned around to help her cousin._

_That's when she felt the blow._

"_HAYDEN!" Samantha yelled, watching as the sword hit her cousin between her shoulder and neck, nearly taking her head off. The older girl tried to catch Hayden as she fell, but one of the robot's grabbed her, while the other grabbed Hayden._

_Then, just like that, Hayden's injury healed up, and the younger girl was back for more._

"_Mutant humans must report to Master Venjix," the robot holding Sam spoke to the other, dropping Samantha on the ground and helping his partner with the struggling mutant girl._

"_Let her go!" Samantha yelled, trying to get to her feet. As soon as she did, though, the robots, and Hayden, were gone. "Shit..."_

"_Sammy!" Kaylee and Dustin yelled, catching up to their niece and pulling her into a hug. It was a quick embrace, because Dustin and Kaylee had to explain what was going on._

"_Sammy, come with us. There's a virus that's threatening the world!" Dustin told his niece._

"_That explains the robots," Samantha panicked._

"_Robots?" Kaylee asked. She had seen the beasts on her way over. They were attacking the civilians and destroying anything in their path. They had alerted her and Dustin of the trouble, making them search for Hayden and Samantha._

"_Yeah, Hayden and I ran away from the poops and..."_

_Samantha went on, explaining every little detail of the attack, giving Kaylee and Dustin exactly what had happened. She knew Hayden's life could be on the line, and it was best to remember everything._

-----RPM-----

"I don't wanna talk about it," Kaylee told her nephew, stepping away.

"You won't talk about it to me, Uncle Dustin won't talk about it to me, Sammy won't talk to me..."

"It's not my favourite family moment," Kaylee growled.

"What's not?" Ziggy asked as he and the other boys came down for breakfast.

"I don't know... that's the problem," Mike frowned.

"But, aren't you family?" Dillon asked, pointing to Mike and Kaylee.

"C'mon Aunt K," Mike begged, trying his best to put on the puppy face genetics had blessed him with. "We're all a team. We all have stories. It's best if we tell those stories!"

"Yeah," Ziggy nodded. "I mean, how bad could it be? Does it beat having a criminal record?"

"Alright," Kaylee sighed, sitting at the table as the others joined. "This story probably will come out sooner or later... just don't tell Kira or Conner about it."

"Why not?" the boys asked.

"Because their trip to Corinth was nowhere near as adventurous and dangerous as this one... I don't want them to get jealous."

-----RPM-----

_When Samantha was done explaining what had happened, she looked up at her Aunt and Uncle._

_Kaylee seemed worried, which was understandable. A robot had just run off with her daughter to show Venjix, the evil virus currently making its successful first attempt to wipe out the world._

_Dustin however seemed like he was ready to knock Sam out for not protecting Hayden. His face was red, his fists were clenched and he was glaring daggers at her._

_Samantha suddenly started to cry. She was scared. Her cousin was gone, she had no idea what was going to happen, and no one seemed to be caring for her at the moment._

_Kaylee saw this and her mothering instincts kicked in. Sure, Samantha wasn't her daughter, but she had helped raise the girl so much that she would sometimes slip up and refer to Sammy as her daughter._

_The songstress forced as smile for the girl and wrapped her in her arms._

"_You did what you could, Sammy," she whispered. "Everything's going to be okay. I promise."_

"_Kaylee, we have to find her," Dustin reminded his wife. "We can't leave her out there! She can't die, but she can get hurt."_

"_I know," Kaylee nodded, looking over her niece. She then mouthed something to Dustin, while her eyes motioned to Samantha. Dustin nodded, putting his hand on Samantha's back._

"_Let's get you fixed up first," he told her._

_-----RPM-----_

_A few short hours later, Samantha's cuts were fully healed thanks to a little blood from her Aunt, and the trio were off on their search for Hayden._

_Meow!_

_Kaylee's eyes widened as she heard the familiar meow and looked up. There in the tree was Karly, hiding in the leaves from the attack._

_Kaylee reached her hand up, and Karly jumped down, sitting on her master's shoulder._

"_You stay with us, demon cat," Kaylee said. "We're not losing you too."_

_Dustin pet the scared cat gently and smiled._

_Samantha looked over at the three with a sad look, before a questioned popped into her head._

"_Aunt Kaylee... did my mom call you at all... after the earthquake?"_

_Kaylee looked over at the McKnight girl and sighed, "You parents went out to lunch just before the attack... I don't know where they are."_

_Sam's eyes started to tear again so Kaylee wrapped her arms around her._

"_Hey, if anyone can get out of this, it's going to be your parents," she assured her niece._

"_What about us?" Sam asked, "Or Mike... or Summer?"_

"_We're the cockroach family," Dustin smiled. "We'll get out of this, I promise you both."_

_Karly jumped off Kaylee's shoulder and ducked under a bush to hide. Kaylee frowned, before sensing something. Her Leopard was also telling her to hide._

"_C'mon," she pulled Dustin and Sammy down as a group of robots passed by, missing them. When the area was clear, Kaylee bolted up, ready to run after them. Dustin grabbed her arm and pulled her back down._

"_Where are you going?" he asked his wife. Karly jumped up on his back and meowed._

"_The robots are probably going back to their base, where they would have taken Hayden."_

"_You don't have to tell me twice," Sam smiled, getting to her feet. Dustin nodded, grabbing Karly in his arms as the three followed the army._

"_Okay, this is totally ruining the dark and serious moment, but I feel totally cool!" Samantha giggled softly. "Like I'm a Power Ranger!"_

_Dustin and Kaylee laughed, before patting their niece on the shoulder._

"_You're still too young," they told her._

"_Aw, come on!" Samantha pouted._

_A loud scream suddenly broke the moment and Kaylee felt as if she had to run after it._

"_Call to the beast inside," she whispered, "Bring out the Leopard!"_

_A green leopard emerged from her body, running in front of her as Kaylee took off. Dustin held onto Samantha, keeping her from following._

_Kaylee quickly made her way over to the army of robots, knocking a great deal of them down with her leopard before jumping on its back to get a better view. She scanned the area, searching for the person who screamed._

"_AHH!"_

_There was that scream again. Kaylee couldn't tell where it was coming from, but she knew it was calling out for her. Her leopard seemed to grasp this because it took off, nearly knocking Kaylee off its back._

_Suddenly, it jumped up on its two back legs and growled, before slamming its front paws down and whipping its head around. Her mouth was open and her teeth were biting at anything placed between them. No robot stood a chance in its path._

_Kaylee seemed a little worried about her leopard's rage, until she saw what was causing it._

_Her cub was in danger._

_Only a few feet away, robots were pulling on Hayden, trying to get her to follow them into their base. Hayden's resistance only seemed to cause her pain, as the robots tried anything they could to get her to give in. Their swords were slicing at her skin every few seconds, and the bigger robots were jumping on her, beating her with their mechanical hands._

_Kaylee's blood started to boil as she watched. Her body glowed a soft green, before she summoned her leopard to attack._

_The leopard didn't need to be told twice as it charged, knocking most of the robots beside Hayden out of the way._

_The robots turned their attack on the Leopard, forcing her to retreat, but not without her cub. The Leopard growled and lowered her head, inviting Hayden to jump onto its back._

_When her cub was safe, the leopard jumped high into the air. Kaylee smirked._

"_Power of water!" she yelled, raising her hands in the air as a mass of water came down from the skies slamming into the robots._

_The leopard landed in the water, which came up to its knees, and started to run, picking up Kaylee's as it did._

_Hayden helped her mom onto the Leopard's back before she was swallowed in her mother's arms._

"_I'm okay... really," she told the former green Ranger._

"_I heard your screams," Kaylee frowned. "That didn't sound like okay to me."_

"_Well, I'm okay now," Hayden assured her mother._

_The leopard growled, looking back at its Master and cub, before Sam, Dustin and Karly were thrown up on its back._

"_Oh, hello there, kitty," Hayden giggled when Karly landed in her lap. Suddenly, she was pulled into another hug, "not again... dad!"_

"_Never letting you go again!" Dustin laughed, squeezing Hayden tight._

_Kaylee leaned over and spoke into her spirit's ear._

"_Think you can make it to Corinth before I lose another kid?"_

_The leopard nodded, jumping in the air again, covering more ground then when it would run. Kaylee smiled, kissing the leopard on the end and turning to her family._

_They had made it. Her husband, daughter and cat were safe and sound. Even her niece was still going to be with her._

_But now, Kaylee wasn't sure about the others. Would they make it to safety? What about Mike and Summer, who were alone at school? What was going to happen to them?_

_-----_RPM-----

A tear escaped Kaylee's eyes as she thought about the fear. Mike pulled her into his arms and laughed.

"We're all okay, Aunt Kaylee, you know that," he told her.

"I was still so scared," she whispered. "You can't understand the fear. It's one thing to be a kid and worry about this... but..."

"MOM! Christian sprayed me with toilet water!" Hayden called from the bathroom.

"Again, you could have left her," Mike teased, letting go of his Aunt so she could referee the fight between her two kids.

The Rangers laughed, before spotting a picture hanging on the wall. Summer and Mike frowned, walking over to it.

Just under the picture stood a small desk, where Kaylee would do some of her paper work while the Rangers hung out. Mike looked over at Summer and shrugged.

"I won't tell if you won't," she smirked.

Mike nodded, opening one of the drawers and pulling out a picture album. He brought it back to the table so everyone could see.

"What do you think is inside?" Scott asked.

"Knowing my Aunt, it'll be cool pictures of her kicking monster ass!" Mike smirked.

Summer rolled her eyes and opened the album.

On the first page was a picture of Kaylee, Tori and their parents before they died.

"Okay, so the butt kicking comes after that, I guess," Ziggy frowned.

Summer was about to turn the page, but Mike grabbed her hand, stopping her. He traced the picture with his fingers, staying near the outline of his grandparents. Summer put her other hand on his shoulder and squeezed it before turning the page.

The Rangers were all surprised to see many picture of Kaylee during her Ranger years and beyond, but there were no "ass kicking" pages. All of them were moments that had changed Kaylee's life.

"Whoa..." Mike breathed. He had never seen this side of Kaylee before. She was always going on about her ranger days and how much fun she had had.

"She's human?" Ziggy asked, making the Rangers all look up at him. He caught the looks and breathed deeply.

"I don't know about you guys, but I've always see Kaylee as a legend... a superhero. She's brave, totally insane, hyper, smart, funny, but that's all just one side.... a face."

"A face?" Flynn asked.

Ziggy pointed to the picture album.

"She's a daughter, a sister, a friend and a mother... she's just like us."

"I don't know about the rest of you dudes, but I'm all dude," Dillon frowned.

"She's human," Ziggy explained, "as are we. If she could do all those great things, so can we."

Suddenly, a hand came down, grabbing the book and shutting it. The Rangers looked up and found Kaylee glaring down at them.

"Summer, I told you not to look at the book!" Mike frowned, hitting Summer in the arm. She frowned and tried to defend herself, but Kaylee hushed the group.

"Don't go through this stuff again," she warned them.

"We're sorry," Scott said.

"If I lost this, I would lose my head," Kaylee spoke.

"Aunt Kaylee, why do you keep that?" Summer asked.

Kaylee looked over at her team.

"So I don't forget."

"What made you who you are today?" Ziggy smirked.

"No," Kaylee shook her head as she opened the album to the very last page. On it, there was a picture of the RPM team. Scott, Flynn, Mike, Summer, Hayden, Dillon, Ziggy and Dr. K were all on there, smiling (or at least their version of _CHEESE!_) as Kaylee snapped the picture.

"Who I'm too scared to lose."


	8. Ranger Red

_Thanks again to Neo Aguini for help with the twist to this chapter._

* * *

"Shh," Scott hushed as a group of Grinders approached a mother and her baby, "You'll wake the baby."

"Yeah, and if you wake the baby I just might have to sing you all a sweet little lullaby," Ziggy added, standing beside his leader, "and then tuck you into bed without any desert or even a single goodnight kiss."

"Dun, dun, dun!" Hayden giggled, until Scott turned around, glaring at the two Rangers behind him. When Hayden bit her lip and turned away, Scott pointed his look at Ziggy and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, wait," Ziggy called, realising what he had said, "that didn't even make sense. I'm really sorry! I'm new to being a Power Ranger and I'm still working on my hero one-liners, so..."

Scott turned to Ziggy and put a hand on his back.

"Look, Ziggy, I told you, they're called one-liners for a reason!" he told the younger boy, as the Grinders approached, "When it comes to talking, less is more."

The Red Ranger smirked, knocking one of the Grinders to the ground.

"There! Did you see?" Ziggy frowned, walking over beside the mother and sitting next to her. "When it comes to talking, boom, pow, zing, less is more! See, I don't know why I can't come up with that stuff!"

The woman smiled, until the Grinders began their assault. Scott jumped in and pulled the baby stroller away from danger (then using it as a weapon), while Ziggy made sure the mother was safe.

Hayden ran over to the nearby playground, bringing a small group of Grinders with her and away from the mother and child.

"Wee!" she giggled, throwing herself down the slide. The Grinders behind her stopped, scratched their heads and shrugged, before following.

Hayden was waiting at the bottom for them, at the ready in her position. As soon as she saw the first, she kicked her leg up. As the Grinders slid down, their heads connected with her foot, and she took them all off, one by one.

When the danger was clear, Scott walked over to the mother and handed her her child back. The mother thanked the three Rangers before running off quickly.

As Scott smiled at the job well done, Ziggy looked down to Hayden.

"So what's the deal with your mom's picture book?" he asked her.

"I thought she told you all about it?" Hayden frowned.

"She did, but a lot of the people in the book were dead... how could she be afraid to lose someone if they're dead?"

Hayden shrugged. She didn't know the answer to this one. Aside from her grandfather Spencer, all the people in the book died long before she was born. She wasn't afraid to lose them because they were already gone.

"By forgetting them," Scott spoke, looking to the sky.

-----RPM-----

"_**Scott, do you read? Request permission to engage!"**_

"_No, that is a negative, the zone is too hot!" a younger Scott frowned as he sat in what seemed to be a military plane, wearing a helmet and a communicator. "I'm going in myself. Fall back and..."_

"_**You're taking fire!"**_

"_No, no, no!" Scott yelled as the lights turned on and a voice ended the simulation test. Colonel Truman and Marcus walked over to Scott. "That was no fair."_

"_If you wanted fair, then you picked the wrong business," Truman told his son. Scott groaned, throwing himself back in his chair._

_-----RPM-----_

"_Hey dad," Marcus called to Truman as the two and Scott walked outside the base, "as I recall, there's only been one other trainee in the history of the Academy who's ever beaten Sim. 42."_

"_How did you do it?" Scott asked his brother._

"_How do I do anything?" Marcus teased his brother, patting him on the shoulder, "With style."_

"_Then maybe you can quit stalling and give me your official recommendation for second squad leader," Truman turned to his two sons, holding up a red envelope. "And I'll take it with, or without, style."_

"_C'mon dad, that's an important decision, I need someone up there I can trust," Marcus said._

"_Well, there's Russell or Braden was good."_

"_Braden's a stiff."_

"_She knows the chain of command"_

"_That's why she's a stiff," Marcus laughed._

_Colonel Truman smiled at his older son, then handed him the envelope._

"_Your recommendation, in my office, at the end of the day or the only thing you'll be flying around here is paper airplanes."_

_-----RPM-----_

_Scott walked down the halls of the base until he found a picture of his brother's promotion. Marcus was shaking hands with his father and both were smiling._

_Suddenly, there was a blast somewhere outside, snapping Scott back from his daydream as Marcus ran over, tossing his little brother a helmet._

"_Get in the hanger; I want you in the air in three minutes. Oh, and turn off all your flight computers, we're flying guard..."_

-----RPM-----

Ziggy stretched as he looked over at Dr. K, who was busy at work on her computer.

"Aren't you ready to turn in, Doc?" he asked her, "get some sleep?"

Ziggy looked around her lab and frowned, "Where exactly do you sleep?"

He looked back at the young doctor and noticed the determined, yet slightly annoyed expression.

"What is it?" he asked, "Did you find something?"

"Apparently I miscalculated the required energy levels needed to power the remote carrier."

"Miscalculated, you mean like a mistake? You made a mistake."

Dr. K stopped typing and looked up at Ziggy with her angry face (not that is was ever anything else when she was talking with him), "It has happened before! Once..."

-----RPM-----

The following morning, Dr. K was presenting her findings to the Rangers and Kaylee while they sat at the breakfast table. No one had thought it would cause a problem, until Ziggy fell asleep in his cereal.

"The energy to size ration makes it impossible to power the croc carrier without an independently operated power entity aboard," Dr. K spoke.

"Doc, if this were really impossible, you wouldn't be telling us," Summer said, looking at the doctor.

"Or giving me this huge ass owner's Manuel book," Kaylee added, dropping the oversized book on her desk, causing the entire base to shake slightly.

"Correct," Dr. K nodded, "It will require a remote flux overthruster core reactor."

Dr. K turned on the monitors, showing the Rangers what they needed. Scott saw it and got up from his chair, walking over to the monitors to get a better look.

"I don't think this kind of technology exists in the city," Summer frowned.

"We're not going to find one in the city, and we're not going to build one either," K told the Rangers, confusing all of them.

"Look, Doc, the suspense is killing me here, do you know where we can get one of those things or not?" Dillon asked, cutting to the chase. He was late for his _I-don't-give-a-damn_ post breakfast "nap".

K shook her head, "Nope," she looked over at Scott, "but he does."

-----RPM-----

"_The flux core," Marcus began his speech to the group of Eagle Squad soldiers, Scott included, "This major reactor core is going to be installed into the nose of my bird tonight. Now, I'll be honest with you people, but I don't know what this thing is..."_

"_I know what it can do," Kaylee said, flashing an ID card to a guarding soldier before stepping further into the room. The soldiers, Marcus and Scott turned to her. "It increases speed, and manoeuvrability."_

"_Right," Marcus nodded as Kaylee took a seat. "I want everyone to stay close to me. Our mission is clear. Eagle squad owns the sky, not Venjix. We'll maintain allies on delta until everyone is in Corinth, and the shields are raised, for the first time, tomorrow. Questions, anyone?"_

_As the soldiers cleared out, Colonel Truman walked over to his youngest son. Kaylee watched them, but kept her distance._

"_Look, son..."_

"_I know dad," Scott started, but was cut off by his father._

"_Tonight, I want you to hang back out of lead formation. You'll cover the Squad and stay out of your brother's way."_

"_No, but dad I can do this, I'm ready!"_

"_Actually, Colonel... I have another idea," Kaylee spoke up. She pulled out forms from her pocket and showed them to Truman. "My family and I just arrived here not too long ago, and with the help of a young woman I'm setting up Project RANGER."_

"_So I've been told," Truman said, looking down at the petite woman. "The mayor says it's supposed to stop Venjix."_

_Kaylee nodded, "In theory."_

_The former green Ranger looked at Scott, then at Marcus._

"_I still need to recruit my Rangers, but I would like to offer the position of Ranger Black and Ranger Red to your sons, Marcus and Scott."_

_Both boys exchanged excited glances as Kaylee presented them their morphers._

-----RPM-----

"Scott, where are you going?" Kaylee asked, following her red Ranger into the garage. When she saw he was headed for his car she quickly snatched the keys. "Look, I know you can get this thing, but I'm sure Dr. K can build another one... she's just..."

"Why should we build one if I can get us a fully functional, ready to use core?" Scott asked.

"Just, think this through," Kaylee stuffed the keys in her pocket while locking the doors, keeping Scott inside.

Scott nodded and Kaylee smiled at him, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm turning my back now," she whispered. Scott nodded once more as Kaylee turned and walked away. He leaned up against his car to think, like she had told him.

Normally, he would have taken Flynn or Mike's car and ignored Kaylee's orders, but after getting a look at Kaylee's photo album, he had a new found respect for her as a mentor.

"OH SHIT!" Samantha yelled as she fell from the sky. Scott jumped forward and caught her before she hurt herself, then looked up as Engel appeared.

"Close, but I think you're supposed to be a little more graceful than that," the older Angel laughed.

Samantha looked up at Engel and stuck her tongue out. Engel rolled her eyes and smiled.

"I'll go tell your mother you're here," she said.

With Engel leaving, Samantha could finally buckle her knees and finish her fall, until she realised she was being held up. She turned around and spotted Scott holding her steady.

"Oh, hello there," she grinned, saluting the red Ranger. "What are you doing?"

"Apparently I'm catching a fallen Angel," Scott laughed. Samantha frowned.

"Funny."

Scott let go of Samantha and took a few steps away, returning to his thoughts. Samantha noticed the strange look on his face and spoke up.

"What's eating you? Is it the core thingy you want to go retrieve?"

Scott turned to Sam, "how do you know?"

"I'm an Angel, I know all," Samantha giggled. Scott rolled his eyes, giving her a pointed look to get her to admit the truth, "Alright, fine, before coming to earth, I have to open a portal, and I can see and hear what's going on."

Scott nodded and grinned, before Samantha walked over to him, "So how do you know where that core thingy is?"

Scott turned to the Angel, his grin dropping as it was replaced by a sad expression.

"There was a flux core installed in my brother's plane... the one that crashed in the evacuation where he... you know..."

"Boom?" Samantha asked gently. Scott nodded.

"I want to go out there and get it... Marcus would want me to do anything to save this city... but what if I find..."

"Him?" Samantha asked, "or... rather, what used to be?"

Scott nodded.

"Look, get your dad to give you the co-ordinates and I'll go with you. If you see what you don't want to see, I'm sure I can come up with some way to hide it."

-----RPM-----

"With respect sir, I don't take orders from you, not anymore," Scott told his father.

"Really?" Col. Truman asked, "Then why are you saluting?"

Scott looked up at his hand, placed by his forehead in a salute. He bit his lip and lowered it.

"Look, I need those quadrants! I need Eagle Squad's last position!"

"I don't care what kind of hardware Dr. K and Kaylee have given you. Venjix will detect your team's bio signals before you get three steps into the waste!"

"One person, alone?" Truman asked.

"Well, two," Scott looked over his shoulder, to where Samantha was waiting. Truman followed his looked and frowned.

"You're taking a girl?" he asked. "You're going to lead her into the wastes? You're not ready for this, Scott. I know it, and Marcus knew it too."

Scott looked down sadly, glancing at the picture of his brother and father as he turned to walk away. He passed by Samantha, who touched his arm gently and followed him.

-----RPM-----

The Rangers had all fallen asleep around the breakfast table as Dr. K continued to explain why the Megazords had not been used recently and it's relation to the flux core. Of course, the Rangers didn't care that Venjix was too lazy to blow up his monsters to enormous size and passed out.

The Doctor was glaring at the team of teens and Kaylee, until the alarms sounded.

"Purple ponies!" Mike yelled, jumping out of his sleep.

Summer ignored her cousin (sharing a room together at her Uncle Conner's house on a family vacation taught her Mike always dreamt of strange things). She ran over to the monitors to get a look at the danger.

"The signal's outbound," she frowned.

"Scott," Kaylee smirked. The Rangers turned to her, lost. Kaylee decided to explain. They were a persistant group of kids, "He left a little while ago to get the flux core in the wastes."

"And you just let him go?" Dillon asked, "All by himself?"

"There was nothing I could do," Kaylee looked up at Dillon, the two giving each other menacing looks. "He made up his mind. He's going out there no matter what anyone says; but he's not alone. Sammy's with him."

"Well we should go out there," Mike suggested.

"If you go out there you run the risk of Venjix picking up on your bio-signals, putting Ranger Red in danger..."

"Scott," Dillon interrupted, "his name is Scott."

"Look," Kaylee got between the two before Dr. K's head was used a football. The flux exists in Marcus's plane. The one he used in his last mission..."

Hayden, Flynn, Summer and Mike exchanged glances. They knew what this was about.

"His last mission?" Ziggy asked.

Kaylee walked to her desk and pulled out a report. She handed it to Dillon and Ziggy to read.

-----RPM-----

"_Ranger Black, this is Ranger red. Request permission to engage?"_

"_**Negative, Ranger Red, this zone is too hot. Maintain your course. I'm drawing fire away from the people..."**_

"_NO!" Scott yelled, ripping off his mask, "No! Marcus, that is a negative!"_

"_**I'm hit! I'm hit! I'm losing altitude!"**_

"_Marcus, no!"_

"_**This is Ranger Black's last transmission!"**_

_Scott looked down in horror as his morpher started to glow. Marcus was downloading his information into Scott's tracker to give to Kaylee and Dr. K._

_He would only do that if he knew he was a goner._

"_Marcus..." Scott was about to shed a tear, when his plane was hit. He was sent tumbling to the ground. He reached over to the Eject button and managed to free himself from his plane in time, landing roughly, but safely on the ground._

"_Scott!" Summer and Hayden yelled, dodging blasters as they ran up to their Red Ranger. Summer wrapped a bandage around Scott's arm and helped him over to her bike. Hayden looked up into the sky._

"_He's gone?" she asked._

_Scott nodded as Summer handed him a helmet._

"_We're never going to make it," he told the girls._

"_Wanna bet," Summer asked as he bike sped off. Hayden put her helmet on and started, quickly catching up to her cousin and Scott._

-----RPM-----

Samantha dropped down beside a rock and grabbed her water bottle, chugging the last of its contents before tossing it aside. She looked up at Scott and frowned.

"You know, you can tell me if you're upset," she said.

"I'm not," Scott growled, giving her the water he had left. He didn't need it.

"Your dad said your dead brother doesn't believe in you. That would hurt."

"He was right," Scott breathed, dropping beside Samantha. "Marcus always saw me as his little brother. The one he had to protect. I'm not cut out for this!"

"But out for what?" Sam asked, "Being a leader? Or doing what's right?"

"Both!"

"Really?" Sam frowned, "Because you just gave me, Deady McDeadston, the rest of your water. I can't die, and you're still looking out for me. Either you've fallen head over heels in love, or you're an awesome leader who does what's right, no matter what."

"Look, your relationship with Hayden is different..."

"No, it's not," Samantha laughed, shifting positions so she was sitting in front of Scott. She put her hand on his leg and looked over at him. "Hayden's my little sister, just as you are Marcus' little brother. Sure we may come from different worlds, but it's all the same. Every day Hayden makes me proud because she's out there trying. No one told her she had to save the world. But she's out there, making a difference, just like you."

Scott smiled and Sam poking him in the chest.

"Now, I never knew Marcus, but I'm pretty sure he's watching you right now, proud of who you've become."

"Thanks, Sam," Scott smiled, looking up at Sammy. She smiled back and kissed him on the cheek.

"The plane is right behind you," she whispered in his ear. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

Scott turned around, spotting the wreckage. He nodded, taking Samantha's hand as he took his first few steps into the place where his brother died.

Suddenly, his feet hit something hard. He looked down, finding the flux core.

Sam pulled him into a hug, rubbing his arm, "Do you need time?" she asked.

Scott pulled away from her, going to the remains of the plane. He looked inside, and saw a red envelop.

He turned away from the plane and looked at Sam.

"He didn't have to write this," he told her. "Your mom hired us before the deadline... we quit Eagle Squad... why would he write one out to dad?"

"Open it," Sam suggested.

Scott shook his head.

"I can't," he held out the red envelop. Samantha took it, looking up at him.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. Samantha pulled the letter out an read it to herself. She smiled, looking over at Scott.

"Do you want to know?" she asked him.

"No," Scott frowned. "I wanna believe what you said. I don't care if he recommended Braden or Russell or Penelope from Panda Squad."

Samantha shrugged as Scott turned away, back to Corinth city.

-----RPM-----

"So, now that you have the flux core thing, we can get working on the Megazords?" Kaylee asked Dr. K as the two women looked down at the flux core sitting on the table.

"It'll still take a while before the Megazords are fully operational and ready to fight against the worst of Venjix' attack bots, but, in theory, it should work," Dr. K nodded, before giving into the yawn she had held in all day. Kaylee smirked as she walked out, letting the doctor do what she was supposed to do.

-----RPM-----

Sam knew she should have been back home with her family in her last minutes on earth, but she knew what she was doing was more important.

She walked up to Colonel Truman's desk and slammed the red envelop down.

"Read it," she ordered the Colonel. He glanced up at her.

She looked familiar. That was for sure, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Blond hair, blue eyes and that smile that could lift even the lowest of spirits.

Because of the anti-power law (which the Colonel was all for), Kaylee couldn't tell him her dead daughter was traveling between the Spirit world and Earth. So, whenever Sam was in town, they made sure she wasn't seen.

Truman shook it off and read the letter of recommendation made by his son. Of course, it took a few tries to read past the tears, but eventually, he made out what it said.

"_Colonel Truman,_

_I'm writing to recommend Scott Truman for position of Second Squad leader._

_Sincerely,_

_Marcus Truman."_

Colonel Truman smiled at the letter and looked up to where Samantha was supposed to be, but she was gone.


	9. Ranger Pink

"So, do you like, not feel pain at all?" Ziggy asked, poking Hayden as the two marched down the halls to the lab.

"Sometimes," Hayden said, rolling her eyes at the light green ranger. "Like right now, I can feel your finger digging into my skin every time you touch me."

Ziggy pulled his hand away and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sorry," he chuckled. "It's just... you're a superhuman.... and we're in Corinth... I never thought I would see one here... never mind in the military. You know superhumans are treated like criminals, right?"

"I know," Hayden sighed. "That's why you can't tell anyone, not even the Colonel about this."

"He doesn't know?"

"No," Hayden breathed. "When the Venjix first took over... my mom and the Operation Overdrive team were questioned about a lot of things. Why they didn't try to stop him, what happened to their powers... What happened to the other Ranger teams..."

"Did she tell them?" Ziggy asked.

"She couldn't" Hayden shook her head. "Corinth is afraid of us... they think we're working with the Venjix to wipe out the human race. My mom had to lie about the Rangers losing their civilian powers, and had to lie about me..."

"You?"

"Yeah... according to the best genetic scientist, humans only need one X chromosome to develop superhuman abilities. Boys have only one, and girls have two... but no matter, because if one has the mutation, you have a power," Hayden turned away from Ziggy as memories of the trial surfaced. "The men tried testing me... to see if my mom was lying... they were going to hurt me... to see if I heal. She had to work hard to convince them I was a normal kid, and that I didn't have any powers, nor will I gain any."

"Did Summer and Mike go through this?" Ziggy asked. "Tori, Blake, Kira and Conner all have powers..."

"Corinth doesn't know," Hayden explained. "They don't know Summer and Mike have parents who were Rangers... and the Overdrive kids are either in NewTech, where powers are allowed, or in hiding..."

"So, what would happen if the military found out?" Ziggy asked.

"I would be thrown in jail, for the rest of my life," Hayden started.

"And your parents?"

"My mother would probably be locked away in a high security prison, if not sentenced to death for lying under oath and hiding a superhuman. Then... everyone would have to be checked for powers. They would discover my dad's powers, and Mike and Summer's.... then that would mean Aunt Tori and Uncle Blake would be found out, and Jason and Elena... my whole family could be in jeopardy... not to mention the Overdrive families living here!"

The two entered the lab, where the others were sitting around, entertaining themselves. The day had been pretty slow, with no reports of attacks anywhere in the city.

Kaylee had taken the day off to relax, but Dr. K didn't believe in vacation.

Flynn was in the kitchen, whipping up smoothies for the team, while Scott, Summer and Dillon were playing pool. Mike was balancing himself on the arm rest of the couch, pretending it was a surfboard.

"That's... a lot on your plate," Ziggy finally managed to say.

"What is?" Kaylee asked, coming over to her daughter and Ziggy.

"I couldn't deal with a secret as big as powers," Ziggy frowned. "Why didn't you guys just move to Newtech?"

"Because, Corinth needed protection," Hayden smiled. "We couldn't leave this city defenceless. I mean, the military is great and all, but only the Rangers have the power to fight the attack bots."

"Alright, then for the good of humanity, mouth staying shut... now!" just as Ziggy ran his fingers over his lips, the alarm went off and everyone in the room sighed in relief.

"Saved by the alarm," Scott joked, running around the pool table, dropping his pool stick and smiling as he joined the others by the screens. "If I got my ass handed to me by Summer again, I probably would need to take a loan for the next year!"

"Hey, I said we didn't have to wager money," Summer smirked, holding a pack of twenties. Kaylee gave her niece a disappointed look as she snatched the money away and gave it back to Scott.

"You're the daughter of Kira Ford," she breathed. "The last thing you need is money."

"I don't get it," Dr. K frowned, typing madly on the computer, trying to bring up an image of the attack. "I can't find any traces of an attack bot in the city."

"We should still check," Mike suggested. "I mean... don't the bad guys always find us?"

"Be careful guys," Kaylee told them, putting her hand on Hayden's shoulder and watching as it slowly slid off as Hayden ran for the door.

"Don't they always?" Dr. K asked, but it wasn't in a comforting tone. She was implying that the Rangers always did their best to protect themselves from harm... well, all but one.

"I wish."

-----Ranger-Pink-----

"Okay, so I think there was a malfunction in the system," Scott started, looking around and holding his morpher.

"Ya think?" Hayden frowned. "There's nothing here... or anywhere else in this stupid city."

"Maybe it's invisible," Mike offered. The others looked at him funny. He shrunk back slightly, playing with his hands nervously. "What, Dr. O, Rose and Greg can do it... maybe Venjix figured it out."

Ziggy didn't know exactly who Mike was talking about, so while the others rolled his eyes, he turned back to the city, looking for any sign of trouble. That was when he saw it.

"Um, guys..." he called, taking a few steps back, hiding behind Dillon. Dillon growled as he turned to Ziggy.

"What?" he asked.

"I think I know why there hasn't been a monster attack recently," he said, pointing to one of the tables in the plaza.

"What are you talking about?" Flynn asked, patting his fellow Ranger on the shoulder as he walked over to the table. "It's just a table, you know, for eating."

"No, not the table," Ziggy said, pulling Flynn back, "Underneath it."

Flynn knelt down to look under, but Ziggy stopped him from getting to close by grabbing his arm and yanking him away.

"No! It's beeping faster and faster!" he yelled, trying with all his might to pull the Blue Ranger back, but Flynn wasn't moving.

"What's beeping?" Hayden asked, pushing her way to the front of the group and walking to the table. She looked under the top and found a small, blinking device attached to the bottom.

"It's a bomb!" Summer cried, reaching to pull her younger cousin away.

Hayden reached for her communicator pushing the button to contact her mom.

"Mom, I think we found the 'monster'," she said.

"What is it?" Kaylee asked on the other end.

"A bomb," Hayden smirked, pulling the device off the table and playing with it.

"Hayden, don't you dare touch it!" Kaylee yelled through the system.

"How many times do I have to tell you this," Hayden groaned, rolling her eyes. "I can't get hurt!"

"You can't die," Kaylee reminded her. "But you can get hurt."

"We'll bring it back to base," Hayden assured her mother. "And I'll be fine. It's just beeping."

Hayden grinned as she shut off her communicator and began to walk back to the base. The other Rangers stayed behind, watching her curiously, before Mike's communicator went off.

"Make sure that doesn't explode in her hand," Kaylee ordered. Mike nodded, only to remember Kaylee couldn't see it.

"No worries, Aunt K," he smiled. "She can't die... you said it yourself."

"Unless..." Kaylee trailed off.

"It would take something big to make her lose that much blood," Summer said confidently, comforting her aunt, "And she's a Ranger, her suit protects her from losing too much."

"It's just... after what happened not too long ago... with her and Sammy."

"It won't happen again," Dillon said in a calming voice, which was strange for him.

Just as he said this, there was a bright light as the sound of something exploding filled all the Ranger's ears.

"After this one..." Dillon added, before Mike shut his communicator and the team rushed forward.

"Hayden!" he yelled, running through the wreckage.

"Aw, shoot!" Tenaya's voice rang as the smoke cleared. "Did we miss?"

"Okay, so there was a breach," Ziggy frowned.

"Where's Hayden?" Summer yelled.

"You mean the princess?" Tenaya asked. "I thought she was with you."

Tenaya smirked playfully as she kicked aside a piece of debris, revealing Hayden's beaten form.

"Hm," Tenaya snickered. "I guess we didn't miss all of them."

As Tenaya retreated, Corinth's military defence unit invaded the area, helping some of the civilians who were caught in the explosion.

Colonel Truman was with them and he took it as his responsibility to check up on Hayden. He ran to the spot where she was lying and looked down at her.

To his surprise, the wounds on her body were quickly healing themselves. His jaw dropped in utter shock as he grabbed her roughly and held her up, showing her to the others.

"Who can explain this?" he yelled, throwing her down in front of him.

"Sir, explain what?" Flynn asked, hoping the Colonel didn't see what he wasn't supposed to.

"Her injuries," Colonel Truman yelled, "they healed! Just like that! Last I heard, spontaneous regeneration was _not_ a part of project Ranger, and had not been confirmed by the city as a legal power."

Colonel Truman once again grabbed Hayden and pulled her behind him as he headed off to the base, where he would get his answers. Hayden was screaming behind him, trying to pull free.

"Um... I think this is an _oh-shit_ moment," Ziggy gulped before the Rangers took off after the Colonel.

-----Ranger-Pink----

"Colonel, what's going on?" Kaylee asked as her daughter was pushed roughly into the room. Hayden fell into Kaylee's arms, while Dr. K joined the group. The Rangers were right behind the Colonel, and all of them looked worried."

"What can you tell me about this?" the Colonel pulled out his blaster and aimed it at Hayden. Before anyone could protest, he shot the blaster.

Hayden put herself in front of her mother, shielding her from the blast but taking it full on. Both Brooks girls were sent flying back in the wall.

"Aunt Kaylee!" Summer yelled, running over to her aunt.

"Hayden!" Mike called, gently pulling Hayden off of his aunt so Kaylee could get up. Kaylee scrambled to her feet and pulled Hayden in a hug, protecting her from the Colonel, and keeping the Colonel from seeing her healing powers take effect.

"What the Hell was that?" Kaylee yelled, squeezing her daughter as she glared at the Colonel.

"You know perfectly well Hayden's going to be fine," the Colonel snapped, reaching out for Hayden, but Kaylee stepped back, bringing her daughter with her.

"Touch her again, and I will _hurt_ you!" Kaylee growled; rubbing her daughter's back.

"Kaylee Brooks, I'm afraid you're under arrest for..." the Colonel started, but before he could even reach for the handcuffs attached to his belt, Kaylee and Hayden were gone.

_ZWOP!_

"She lied," the Colonel snarled as he looked around the room.

He had been present when Kaylee and the Overdrive Rangers were on trial for their powers. He knew Kaylee claimed that she had lost her powers shortly after Hayden was born, and that Hayden didn't have any powers.

"Did you guys know about this?" the Colonel yelled, turning to the Rangers and Dr. K. They all remained silent as they averted their gaze. The Colonel walked up to his son, standing over him. "Did you know about this?"

"Dad..."

"Did you know, Scott?" Colonel interrupted.

"Yes... I knew," Scott admitted, lowering his head in shame.

"Why didn't you warn me?" the Colonel yelled. "You know super humans are a threat to the city. They all have to be eliminated! Especially those two!"

"Eliminated!" Dillon snapped, pushing past Scott to stand down the Colonel. "What happened to imprisonment, where they can live their life?"

"What do you think happens to them after imprisonment sentence?" the Colonel frowned. "Where do you think they went? The wasteland's filled with radiation that could easily give powers to any human. If we kept them all, our prisons would be overflowing with those... those..."

"Those what?" Summer asked.

"Those freaks!" the Colonel yelled. "Project Ranger is being shut down until we've located them."

"What are you going to do to them?" Mike asked, pulling Summer behind him. The only reason he and Summer weren't under suspicion was because their parents weren't known as Power Rangers. To Corinth City, Tori and Blake were just regular people, and Kira and Conner lived in NewTech, where laws were different. But even with that kind of protection, the Colonel was attacking his family, and he was going to protect what he had left.

"That's classified, Ranger D-Green," the Colonel said, turning toe to walk out the door.

Summer felt her stomach turn as she heard this. Nothing was classified from the Rangers. That was how she managed to talk to Dillon when he was in prison. If the Colonel was keeping Hayden and Kaylee's fates classified, then either he had lost all trust in the Rangers, or their lives were in the hands of something worse – way worse – than the military.

When the Colonel was gone, Dr. K walked over to her small lab room and opened the door.

"You can come out now, Kaylee and Ranger Pink," she breathed softly, stepping aside to let them out. Kaylee walked out first and ran a hand through her hair, before looking down at her daughter, disappointed.

"I'm sorry, mom," Hayden said, lowering her face so her hair fell in front, keeping the others from seeing her tears.

"Sorry?" Kaylee asked, raising her voice. "I told you not to touch the bomb! I told you to leave it where it was. I told you, you _can_ get hurt! And what do you do? You run off with it like it's some kind of toy! Hayden Victoria Brooks, you not only put our lives in danger... you may have just put all of Corinth and NewTech in danger as well. Sorry's not going to fix this one, Hayden."

"Mom..."

"I have to go fix this," Kaylee groaned, brushing past Hayden and retreating into the lab, where the Rangers and Dr. K heard the door click.

Hayden started to shake uncontrollably as Mike pulled her close to him. He held her in his arms as she let her tears fall freely.

She didn't know why she was crying. Of course it was because she was hurt. But she didn't know if she was hurting because she was afraid of being killed off by her allies...

...Or if it was because she had let her mother – her hero – down.

"She's not really mad at you," Summer whispered, taking Hayden's hand. "She's just scared."

Hayden looked up at her cousin, shaking her head.

"She's right," Hayden mumbled. "I let you guys down... I let everyone down... Corinth, NewTech... you guys... Dr. K... my dad, my sister, my brother... and my mom."

"Hayden, I can talk to my dad. I'm sure I can get him to reconsider..." Scott started, but Hayden silenced him.

"You dad hasn't been the same since Marcus' death," Hayden reminded him. "He's going to go through with this."

"Lass, you don't know that," Flynn smiled confidently, taking Hayden from her cousin and holding her close.

"Flynn, you saw him... and you know him as well as the rest of us! He's a stubborn little... he's a... he's..."

"A jackass?" Scott finished. Hayden nodded, looking up at the blue Ranger.

"Aye, but that doesn't mean we can't get him to reconsider. Not only for ya, but for every other 'freak' who had to die because of a stupid paranoid army, who can shove their elimination penalty law up their..."

"Thanks Flynn," Hayden smiled, getting up on her toes to kiss his cheek. She smiled at him again before running to her room, hoping for a little alone time.

The Rangers heard a sob coming from Summer, and turned to her curiously.

"Sunshine," Dillon started, moving towards her. "Sunshine... what's wrong?"

"I'm scared," Summer admitted, burying her face in Dillon's chest.

The act was so sudden, and so unexpected, that Dillon didn't know how to react. Was he supposed to hug her back? Was he supposed to push her away and tell her to shape up?

He remembered how Flynn held Hayden when she was upset. He knew the Pink and Blue Rangers had a crush on each other... was that what he had with Summer? If so... did that mean he was supposed to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay?

But then again, Dillon didn't know if Summer liked him back. If she didn't, would he have to push her away. Was that what she wanted, someone to tell her to be strong and not to act like a "sissy", as Flynn would call it.

Dillon went with his instincts and wrapped his arms around Summer, holding her close to him as she cried in his chest. It felt good to hold her small body... it felt like he was where he was supposed to be... and he was doing what he had always been supposed to do.

-----Ranger-Pink-----

"I have to what?"

"You have to take Summer and Mike," Kaylee said for the millionth time to Kira, who was on the other end of the communicator. Because of the Venjix, communication between the last two cities on earth was rare, possible, but rare. Dr. K had advised Kaylee only to use it in case of emergency.

"What did you do, Kaylee?" Kira groaned, looking through the camera at Kaylee.

"It wasn't me!" Kaylee snapped, raising her voice in pure anger at Kira for the first time. Kira jumped back slightly at the rage. She had never heard Kaylee yell at anyone with such a passion. Even during Operation Overdrive, when the Retros took over the team, kicking Kaylee down and out of the one thing she was supposed to be awesome at. Kaylee had been angry, but had never yelled the way she just did. "Damn it, Kira! It wasn't me..."

Kaylee's voice weakened dramatically towards the end, and Kira could sense it, not only in her voice, but by her body language. Kaylee was now holding her head in her hands as sobbing could be heard.

"Kayl, it's going to be okay..." Kira began, wishing she could be there for her friend. "Just... tell me what happened?"

"Colonel Truman knows," Kaylee whispered.

"Knows?"

"About us," Kaylee explained. "He saw Hayden heal, and he saw me teleport... he's getting permission from his superiors now for the elimination penalty. I've lied to the authorities... they know... Kira, he's going to kill her."

"You mean both of you?" Kira asked; confused as to why Kaylee would be worried about only Hayden. It was completely understandable as to why she would worry about her only living daughter, but she thought Kaylee would have enough fear to worry about herself as well.

"I don't care about myself," Kaylee breathed. "They kill me, it's all good and done. I suffer for maybe five minutes and life doesn't go on... but Hayden..."

"Can't die," Kira finished. "Unless she bleeds to death..."

"The colonel doesn't know that! He thinks he just has to injure her enough... he's going to torture her until she finally does lose enough blood," Kaylee cried. "Kira, he's going to hurt my baby."

"Kaylee," Kira spoke softly. "Kaylee, are you okay?"

"Of course I'm not okay!" Kaylee yelled. "How would you feel if Summer or Sam were sentenced to a death they couldn't do! How would you feel if either one of them were strapped to a table, with nowhere to go, while people poke and pry at them!"

"Kaylee, maybe... maybe it won't be too bad," Kira said hopefully, but even she didn't believe it. "Hayden doesn't feel half the things that hurt her..."

"They would figure that out before they figure out how to kill her," Kaylee cried. "They would think that maybe she has to feel pain to die... they would find a way to cause her all the pain in the world, and even that won't work..."

In her head, Kaylee could hear Hayden screaming for help as a bunch of scientist stood over her, trying anything they could to kill her baby.

"Kira... the only way to kill her is to keep her injuries open... and let them bleed... they would rip open her skin... maybe her stomach... and they would use some kind of separator to hold the cut open... by then, they would have given her a serum to allow her to feel pain... she would be awake during all this... she would feel the pain... she's going to be torture..."

"You're jumping to conclusions, Kayl Whale," Kira told her blonde friend.

"I've let her down," Kaylee whispered in a tone that was barely audible, but Kira heard it.

"How?" she asked. "How did you let her down? This wasn't your fault..."

"I should have told the truth at the trial," Kaylee explained. "I should have let them test her then... before the death penalty... maybe... maybe back then... when things weren't so bad... and there was still hope... maybe I could have changed their mind about us..."

"Kayl, don't do this to yourself," Kira said gently. She breathed deeply, running her hand through her hair and leaning back on her chair. "Have you talked to Tori about this?"

"I don't want to drag her and the others into this. If I run to my sister while the colonel makes our secret known... they'll realise she knows... they'll go after her, and the kids, and Blake..."

"Okay, I'm coming over," Kira said, standing up. Kaylee looked up at the screen and frowned.

"You're..."

"You just said you wanted to protect Blake," Kira smiled. "Something's wrong."

Kaylee smiled back at her best friend... her sister, catching her attempt to break the tension.

"Kira."

"Yeah, Kayl."

"Thanks... for everything."

"No problem, kiddo," Kira giggled, using the nickname for Kaylee that made the least sense. They were only a month apart age wise; therefore, Kira calling the younger girl kiddo was a little extreme. "And look, if you're still worried about Summer and Mike, send them over to me. You and Hayden may be in shit, but that doesn't mean they should go down with you."

"I'm just looking out for them," Kaylee smiled. "I know you're her mother, and you should have the final say in where Summer lives... but right now, Corinth isn't the best place."

"How are you going to tell Tori?" Kira frowned. "I know her just as well as you do. If you walk up to her and tell her you plan on shipping her son across the wastelands so he can live in NewTech with his crazy, bitchy aunt... wait... that might be a good idea. She'll kill you, and you don't have to worry about the death penalty."

"Kira!" Kaylee laughed.

"No, no, I can totally see this!" Kira smirked. "She'll kill you, then, because she's still mad, she'll kill the rest of your family! It's perfect!"

"Are you planning my death?" Kaylee frowned.

"You won't have to worry about Hayden being tortured, because Tori knows what to do!" Kira exclaimed. "Kaylee, go piss Tori off and get yourself killed!"

"Kira!" Kaylee yelled playfully. "This is totally the last time I come to you for help. Whenever I do, you plot my demise!"

"I need a hobby," Kira shrugged, "Working here ain't all it's cracked up to be."

"Tell me about it," Kaylee groaned. "When I finally remembered my time as SPD green, there were a lot of boring moments. Don't get me wrong, being with Bridge, Z and 'em was awesome, but how many times can you look at the same silver walls before you get bored?"

"I'll talk to ya later, Kayl," Kira laughed, turning off the communication now that Kaylee was feeling better.

"Bye, Kir," Kaylee smiled, doing the same on her end.

-----Ranger-Pink-----

After a few hours, Flynn decided it was best to talk to Hayden. She had been locked in her room the entire time, and not one person had bothered to make sure she was okay.

She knew Scott would be trying to reach his dad, to get him to change his mind. But Flynn was sure Scott would have at least tried to talk to Hayden... or even get her to come out of her room.

Ziggy had gone upstairs a few times, but never quite made it to her door. He had tried several times to check up on her, but every time his fist was just about to hit the door, he turned away. As much as he wanted to help, he didn't know how.

Flynn didn't expect Dillon to help out at all, but the brooding bad boy had decided to do so with Summer. He had been by her side since the Colonel's departure and Summer's spontaneous hug. Though he didn't have many calming words for her, or any hope, Flynn could tell that Summer was feeling better just by the Black Ranger's presence.

Mike hadn't bothered to disturb his cousin, but that was understandable. He had been affected by the revelation, because his entire family was living in Corinth, and every member had a power. His mother and little brother and himself all had the power of water, while his father and baby sister, had the power of thunder.

Dr. K had been the only one to reach out to Hayden, but that was via intercom and by reaching out, Flynn meant threatened to blast her out of her room if she didn't come on her own to talk. Needless to say, the plan failed. Hayden had lost all hope of escaping the elimination penalty and was suicidal at the moment. Flynn was worried she was going to try to get herself to bleed, if she hadn't already. He was going to talk to her, before she hurt herself – emotionally.

"Hayden, can I come in?" he asked, knocking on her door. There was a vibration on the door and a loud thump. "Did you just throw something at me, lass?"

"Go away!" Hayden yelled through the door. "Leave me alone."

"No wonder Ziggy left," Flynn muttered to himself as he opened the door. He was a little surprised when he didn't see Hayden.

"Alright, where did ya go?" he called, looking around the room.

"Go away!" Hayden yelled again, and Flynn felt something hit his feet. He looked down and saw Hayden's pink Teddy Bear. As he bent down to pick it up, his eyes met Hayden's.

"Whatcha doing under the bed?" he asked, extending a hand to help her out. Hayden glared at it, before slapping it away.

"Hiding," she replied.

"Mind if I hide with you?" Flynn asked.

"There's no room," Hayden stated.

"Then why don't we hide somewhere together?" Flynn suggested, grabbing Hayden's arm and helping her out. When Hayden was back on her feet, she turned back to her bed and sat down on it.

"Flynn..."

"Yeah?"

"Did you talk to the Colonel?" Hayden asked, looking up at her friend. Flynn shook his head sadly, taking the spot next to her.

"Your still in trouble," he told her. "But hey, don't worry."

"Don't worry?" Hayden yelled, pushing him away. "My mom's going to die, because I was too stupid to give a damn about my own safety! I know I can't get hurt.... but I forget that everyone else can."

"Hayden, you can get hurt," Flynn smiled, taking her hand. "Maybe not physically, but emotionally... I worry about ya Hay."

"You worry about me?" Hayden asked.

"Aye," Flynn nodded. "You have a lot on your plate. You can't die, so you put yourself out there all the time for us... and because of your powers, you always feel responsible when someone gets hurt, am I right?"

"Aye?" Hayden said, and Flynn noticed a ghost of a smile on her lips. He pulled her on his lap and held her close.

"Don't worry about your mother. She's gonna be fine," Flynn assured her. "What you need to do, is prove to the Colonel that you're not about to take over Corinth."

"I don't want take it over! How do you do that with healing powers?" Hayden frowned.

"Good, then you don't have to act the part," Flynn laughed, poking Hayden on the nose. "But you still have to be there when the Colonel comes back with the warrant for yours, and your mother's arrest."

Hayden nodded, resting her head on Flynn's chest, before suddenly pulling away.

"Flynn, does Dr. K still have that fridge cannon?" she asked.

-----Ranger-Pink-----

The Colonel marched back into the garage, where the Ranger team was waiting for him.

Dr. K sat at her computer, putting the last few adjustments on her newest assignment. Dillon and Summer were sitting on the hood of his car, growing impatient. Scott was leaning against the wall, glaring daggers and other sharp objects at his father. Ziggy was sitting on the ground beside his red friend, giving the Colonel an equally uncomfortable look.

Flynn was watching the scene from a corner behind where the Colonel was now standing. Though he wasn't giving the colonel a dirty look, he was wishing horrible things on the man.

Dustin had joined the group, and was sitting on the couch, with Kaylee in his arms and little Christian on her lap. Hayden sat on the other side of her father, resting her head on his chest and trying to keep herself from looking at her mother.

"Mayden," Christian called out, holding his adopted sister's hand. "You no go away. I protect you."

"Thanks buddy," Hayden smiled, rubbing his little hand with her finger.

"I got the warrant," Colonel Truman started, holding up the papers. "You two are needed in court."

"Court?" Dustin asked. "You're going to prolong their suffering by sending them to court?"

"We need to figure out if anyone else has powers. It's best we get inside information."

"Inside information my ass!" Dustin yelled, getting off the couch. "You walk in here, holding papers that allow you to kill my wife and my bloody daughter, and now you want to exploit them for your own personal gain?"

"It's not my gain, it's to protect the city... your family!"

"You want to protect my family by killing off the mother of my children, and half of my living children?" Dustin frowned. "Wow, and I thought Kaylee's logic didn't make sense... you're just..."

"A jackass," Scott finished.

"Scott!" the Colonel yelled, surprised his son would talk back like he did.

"Dad, you're trying to kill my friends!" Scott growled. "Kaylee and Hayden wouldn't even dream about destroying the city. You're just judging them because you're afraid of anything different!"

"We can't take any risks, Scott!" the colonel answered. "The world's human population is in jeopardy, we can't risk eliminating ourselves by letting these monsters roam free!"

"Monsters?" Kaylee screamed, standing beside her husband. "You think I'm a monster? I've saved this world more times than you can count! I've saved your ignorant ass way too many times..."

"This is why we want to eliminate them!" the colonel explained to the others. "She's mad with rage! She could tap into her powers and wipe us all out."

"No, my fist is going to tap your face!" Kaylee yelled, thrusting herself forward. Dustin quickly grabbed her and held her away from the colonel.

"Mom... don't push it!" Hayden whispered to her mother.

"Kaylee, power corrupts," the colonel started. "And you didn't admit to having powers. You kept them hidden, how am I supposed to trust you now?"

"You just have to!" Kaylee yelled.

"How can I be sure you aren't plotting your reign with Venjix? Keeping powers hidden and joining us is a great plan for a surprise attack!"

"Uh-oh," Dr. K said, pushing herself away from her computer.

"Uh-oh?" Summer frowned, sliding off the hood of the car and walking over to the doc. The computers had been set up just outside the kitchen so Dr. K could work on her project and be a part of the conversation.

"I think I made a mistake," Dr. K explained.

Suddenly, the fridge door swung open as a cannon slid out, pointing at the Colonel. He noticed this and began to back away, afraid of the power it might hold.

Summer saw where the cannon was aimed and ran for the colonel, pushing him out of the way so she was standing in range. The colonel was wide eyed when he realised what she did, but it was nothing compared to his reaction when he saw how she protected herself.

Eyes closed, mouth open wide and a trust forward, and suddenly a sonic scream came from her tiny body. The waves from her powers fought against the blast from the cannon, holding it off until its power faded.

"S-Summer?" the colonel stuttered, looking at the yellow Ranger. "You too?"

Summer glared at the colonel, before bringing her hand up, holding her middle finger in the air.

"Now you need to get another warrant," she smirked. Mike, Kaylee, Dustin and Hayden were shocked at her anger.

"Sammy, it's not you, is it?" Mike laughed.

"No, it's me," Summer smirked. "Now, colonel, can you really bring yourself to killing the girl who just saved your ass?"

"I have to, you three are a menace to the remaining population."

"Then I guess I'm a menace too," Mike said, bringing his hands up as water surrounded them.

"You too?" the colonel asked in shock.

"And me," Dillon smiled, standing behind Summer. "Four of the seven Rangers have super human powers."

"We'll get new Rangers... all of you must go!" the colonel growled.

"The Ranger Bio Hardware has bonded to their DNA. It would be impossible to break that bond and find candidates before Venjix gets wind of the fallen team," Dr. K explained. "If you put those four to death, then you would be responsible for the destruction of Corinth city."

"Face it, dude," Ziggy grinned. "We need these monsters to protect the city."

"Ironic, isn't it?" Dustin said. "You were locking up superhumans, because you thought they were a danger to the city, when all this time, they've been the ones protecting it."

"You need us," Kaylee smirked. "You've needed us from the start. If you get rid of my Rangers... my team... my kids... then you're going to suffer. You're going to be destroyed."

The colonel looked over at the team, clutching the warrant for Kaylee and Hayden's death in his hands.

"Dad..." Scott started. "You have to trust them... us. Would I really be working with the people who killed Marcus?"

"Scott, this isn't about Marcus."

"You're mad," Kaylee frowned, but she didn't seem snappy at the colonel. She sounded sympathetic. "It is about Marcus, isn't it?"

"He was my son," the colonel snapped. "And the Venjix and those freaks killed him! And they almost got Scott too!"

Hayden got off the couch, giving her two year old brother to her father as she walked to the colonel. She put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"We didn't kill your son," she said. "You have to understand... We were trying to save the civilians that finally made it to the city. He died in the line of duty. You can't think that eliminating those who might be helping Venjix will bring him back."

"He was my son," the colonel growled.

"I lost my sister," Hayden breathed, looking down. "It was an accident. My mom was oblivious to her pregnancy and was careless. Because of her, I didn't grow up with my Sammy, but that doesn't mean I want to destroy her."

"It's different..."

"It's not," Kaylee smiled. "We've both lost a child. I know you're grieving, but the people you've killed... they're people."

"Marcus wouldn't have wanted this, dad," Scott started. "He knew about Mike, Summer, Kaylee and Hayden. He liked them. If he knew you wanted to kill them..."

"I'm sorry Rangers," the colonel said, wiping away a tear before ripping up the warrant. "This death penalty... it's going to stop."

Hayden smiled as she jumped into the colonel's arms. He hugged her back, before letting her go and turning away. Scott followed him out, while the others regrouped.

"Great job guys," Flynn smiled, walking out of the shadows, holding a remote in his hands.

"That was fun," Summer laughed, "I didn't think I could scream... it's been so long."

"What?" Mike yelled, cupping his ear with his hand. Summer frowned, playfully punching his chest.

"Good job pulling it off team," Kaylee smiled. "Everything went perfectly according to plan... and now we're free to take over the world!"

Kaylee raised her hands in the air as she laughed maniacally. Dustin looked down at her, putting a hand over her mouth.

"Only you," he smiled, pulling her into a hug. He had to admit, he had his doubts about Hayden and Flynn's plan's to convince the Colonel that superhumans weren't a threat. Now that it worked, it felt as if a giant weight had been lifted. His family was safe.

"Mom... I'm sorry," Hayden said, walking up to her parents. "I should have listened to you. I know I can't die... but I can get hurt... and I can hurt you guys... like I did."

"Hayden, its okay," Kaylee smiled, hugging her daughter. "We all make mistakes. Yours was just epic."

"And nearly killed you, and your mother," Dustin laughed. "But you've learned from it, and you fixed your mistake, you put Mike and Summer in danger in the meantime, but you still fixed it."

"All I know is, I'm never using my powers again," Hayden breathed happily. "It's too much of a nuisance."

"Dustin, get the bubble wrap," Kaylee turned to her husband and winked. Dustin laughed as he reached behind the couch, where a roll of bubble wrap was resting.

"Bubble wrap?" Hayden frowned.

"There's a reason your aunts call me overprotective," Kaylee giggled, spinning the bubble wrap around her daughter. "The only reason I didn't do this before was because you could heal from injury. Now that you won't, I have to protect you somehow."

"MOM!" Hayden giggled, struggling to get out of the bubble wrap, only to lose her balance and fall backwards, right into Flynn's arms.

"See, you're safe!" Kaylee laughed.

"Yeah, but the bubble wrap's what hurt me."

"You'll get used to it," Dustin smiled. "After all, your mother did."

"When?"

"When she was pregnant with you," Dustin laughed. "After Sammy, I was scared I would lose you."

"If there was a contest, he would have won overprotective-future-father-of-the year!" Kaylee teased, poking Dustin in the ribs.

"Hey, it worked," Dustin beamed. "I have a beautiful daughter and my wife's still here with me!"

"Oh no," Hayden groaned before she felt herself being pulled out of Flynn's arms and in to a group hug. Both her and her mother were trapped in Dustin's arms as they tried to pull out.

"UP!" Christian called, jumping. He wanted to be a part of the hug. Kaylee picked him up and brought him into the embrace.

"Did someone call for a ride to NewTech?" Conner's voice rang as the former Dino Ranger walked into the garage.

"Dad?" Summer frowned.

"Oh... I forgot to cancel with Kira, didn't I?" Kaylee asked.

"A little," Conner smiled as Summer jumped into his arms.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Kaylee called Kira, asking if she could send you and Mike to NewTech to keep you safe. I just came to pick you up."

"Okay, I'll take it," Summer smiled.

Hayden pulled the bubble wrap off and wrapped herself in Flynn's arms.

"Thanks for helping me, Flynn," she said. "I wouldn't have been able to do this if it weren't for you."

"Anytime," Flynn beamed. "Just next time we find a bomb, don't run off with it. You may not be able to die, but we all still worry about you."

"And by all, he means _he_ worries about you," Dillon teased.

"I mean all," Flynn frowned, pushing Dillon away. He knew the Black Ranger was trying to set him and Hayden up. It was his hobby during the night, when he didn't sleep. In a way, setting Hayden and Flynn up was a way for Dillon to learn about love. He thought that maybe if he remembered what true love was, he would remember everything.

"I agree with Dillon," Hayden smirked. "You can just say it, you know. We're friends. I worry about you."

Flynn wanted to say it. He wanted to come out tell her he was crazy about her. But he couldn't. He knew that every time someone got hurt, Hayden took it personally. She had the power to save lives, but she couldn't use it. He didn't want her to feel that she had to risk herself for him. And he knew that if they got together, Hayden would do anything to make sure he was safe. He didn't want her to do that. He didn't want her to risk her life for him. She meant too much. If anything, Flynn would put his life on the line for her.

"We were all worried," Flynn said, disappointing the blonde in his arms. "Me no more than the others."

Hayden was upset he couldn't say something as simple as _I was worried about you_, but she shook it off, kissing his cheek once more before running to her mother.

"Forgive me?" she smiled.

"Always," Kaylee nodded, hugging her daughter.


	10. Ranger Yellow Part I

"Who wants to meet us?" Scott asked, trailing behind Kaylee and Dr. K with his team.

"The Winchesters," Dr. K explained. "They would like to make an arrangement for their son."

"Please don't tell me Chas Winchester wants to be a Power Ranger," Flynn groaned.

"Not exactly," Dr. K frowned.

"Then, what do they want?" Mike asked.

"It's more like... _who_ do they want."

Dr. K turned to Kaylee, whose fists were clenched in anger. The blonde mentor did not look happy about the Winchester visit. Ever since they had announced their arrival, Kaylee seemed to be distracted from everything. Hayden and Summer even counted the times she forgot to use the word Zwop.

"Who...?" Hayden paused, turning to her mother. "Mom... what does she mean?"

"Don't worry about it," Kaylee told her daughter, stroking her cheek gently as she turned to the door. "Let's just go to that meeting... oh, and Dr. K... please keep any explanations you may have simple."

"What child can't understand the hardware installed in the Ranger Series suits? It's basic science..."

"Yeah, unless asked, don't talk," Kaylee interrupted, putting her hand over Dr. K's mouth.

-----Ranger-Yellow-----

"Ranger Black, your strength and courage is an inspiration to all of us. Do you have any advice for the kids who look up to you?" a boy, around the age of twelve asked as he stepped up to the microphone. The Ranger team had been asked to take part in a tour of Corinth's defence tower, and naturally, the little kids who were on the tour had many questions to ask their heroes.

Dillon stepped up to the podium, looked the kid in the eye and said firmly: "No."

He stepped back into the crowd that was his team. The boy looked at him a little funny, but didn't complain. He merely stepped aside to let a little girl ask her question.

"Ranger Blue, why do you talk pretty, and the others don't?" the girl asked, smiling nervously as Flynn stepped forward.

"That's because I'm Scottish, and the others aren't," Flynn smirked, proud of his nationality. Summer rolled her eyes, while Hayden giggled slightly. She knew that was going to come up.

There was a small laugh that came from the girl as she stepped down. A young boy took his spot behind the mic and turned nervously to Dr. K and Kaylee.

"Where did you get all the spandex?" he asked, unaware of the danger he had just put himself in.

"THAT IS NOT SPANDEX!" Dr. K yelled, blowing her top as she stepped forward menacingly, before she was held back by the entire RPM team. "It's a self-sustaining nano-"

Summer's hand flew to Dr. K's mouth before she could finish, while Dillon held the small doctor back. He made sure she wasn't going to kill the innocent boy.

"We made it," Kaylee explained simply. "And, apparently, it's not spandex."

There was a small laugh from the group of kids and Colonel Truman while Kaylee turned away.

"Ranger Red, you're hair is the coolest... is that because you're the leader?" a boy asked.

Scott laughed, running a hand over his hair.

"It's one of the reasons."

Ziggy looked from the boy, to Scott, a hurt look on his face.

"I have cool hair..." he muttered to himself. Flynn heard this and patted the Green Ranger on the shoulder.

"Yeah, but you're not the leader."

"Ranger Yellow," a boy asked. "You're pretty, will you marry me?"

Summer blushed slightly as she looked over at her cousins. Mike was trying hard to hold in a laugh, while Hayden was too busy giving her kissy faces. She then turned to her Aunt. Kaylee's mouth was open, as if she had been frozen mid 'AW!'.

Her attention turned to Dillon, who seemed to be a little jealous of the boy. Summer rolled her eyes as she walked up to the podium.

"I like a man with taste, so yes," she answered, playing along with whatever game the boy was playing. He smiled wide before turning to step down. He stopped when he heard Dr. K.

"I don't think I understand the pertinence of the question. It makes the endless questions on Ranger Red hair seem insightful and logical, in comparison."

"It's just... she's so nice and pretty..." the boy began.

"Don't worry about explaining it to her," Mike spoke up, patting Dr. K on the shoulder. "She's not all there sometimes. I think it's got something to do with soup in her alphabet..."

"Mike," Kaylee laughed, putting a finger to her lips. "Shh."

An eleven year old boy, who looked like he could be Dillon's little brother, walked up to the mic as the engaged nine year old walked off. He examined each of the Rangers, before his gaze stopped on Hayden.

"Does it hurt when you get stabbed?" he asked her. "And can I try?"

Hayden pouted as she walked to the podium.

"Sometimes, and no," she answered. "Why does Summer get engaged, and I get a death threat?"

"Because your power is awesome!" the boy smirked, mirroring Dillon exactly.

"Oh, in that case.... no you can't stab me," Hayden frowned, stepping down and hiding slightly behind Flynn, who poked her playfully in the sides.

"He wants to stab you," he teased her.

"He thinks my powers are the awesomenest," Hayden smirked.

"Yeah, but he still wants to stab you."

Hayden playfully pushed Flynn to the side, before watching as Mike walked to the podium after he was asked a question by a small girl.

"No, I do not put my hair in ponytails," Mike groaned, running a hand through his black hair. "Only Elena can do that... in private."

Mike heard the boys snicker behind him and growled, shifting to glare at them.

"I've said too much..."

As he backed away, a woman, around Colonel Truman's age, stepped up to the mic. She looked down at it in disgust, pulling out a handkerchief and cleaning the top before speaking into it.

"Mrs. Brooks, have you come to a decision on our deal?"

Kaylee looked to the girls on the team, then back at the woman. She stepped down off the stage, pulling Dr. K along with her.

"Alright," Colonel Truman said, putting his hand on the kids' shoulders. "I think those are all the questions for today."

"What... no!" Ziggy frowned, running up to the mic. "What about me? The L-Green Ranger? C'mon, let the kids ask their questions!"

Colonel Truman looked over at Ziggy apologetically.

"Are there any questions for Ranger L-Green?"

A girl walked up to the mic, adjusting it so she could reach.

"Ranger Pink... is Kaylee Brooks really your mommy?" she asked.

Hayden laughed, ruffling Ziggy's hair as she walked up to the podium.

"Sorry Zigster, I got this one," she told him. "And yes, sweetheart, she is."

"Cool!" the girl smiled, stepping down and joining her friends as the Colonel led them to the next stop on their tour. Ziggy lowered his head, a little disappointed he didn't get to answer a single question.

"Hey, where did Dr. K and Aunt Kaylee go?" Mike asked. The Rangers looked around the room, only to realise Mike was right. Both their mentors had disappeared after the woman had asked Kaylee the strange question.

"It's my mom," Hayden sighed. "Did you expect anything different?"

-----Ranger-Yellow-----

"No way!" Kaylee yelled, slamming her fist down on Dr. K's computer desk, causing the young doctor to glare at her for endangering Project Ranger.

"Kaylee, calm down," Dr. K told her.

"No, I will not calm down!" Kaylee yelled, walking to the other side of the desk, and slamming her fist down again. "This is blackmail! It's ridiculous!"

She turned to the woman standing in the garage and glared.

"You can't possibly endanger the team, and the world like this?"

"What danger could there be?" the woman asked. Judging by her manners and the way she spoke, it was obvious that she lived in her own little bubble, and she was unaware that the dome she now lived in was to protect her from the wastelands, which were controlled by the evil Venjix virus and his army of robotic drones.

"If you force us to go through with this, we could lose a Ranger!" Kaylee yelled, "And not just anyone, but my daughter!"

"I'm not asking for the pink one, either girl will do!"

"I can't marry off Summer!" Kaylee screamed. "She's not really my daughter!"

"But, don't you have legal guardianship... or something of the sort?"

"Yeah, but I'm not going to use it for... for that!"

"Kaylee, the Winchesters have given us a lot of their money to ensure that project Ranger was complete," Dr. K explained. "If they choose to stop..."

"No..." Kaylee growled. "I'm not marrying either of the girls to Chas... it's..."

"Chas was supposed to marry a young lady who never made it into Corinth. We need another bride for him."

"Go find another," Kaylee growled.

Dr. K walked over to Kaylee, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"We'll talk to the team," she told Mrs. Winchester. "Maybe we can figure something out."

"The rehearsal lunch will be tomorrow, in the park," Mrs. Winchester announced, picking up her unusually large handbag and turning to the door. "Make sure you arrive on time."

Kaylee turned to Dr. K, glaring down at the doctor. Dr. K walked back to her computer and began work on the next Ranger upgrade.

"What the hell?" Kaylee yelled, grabbing Dr. K's desk chair and spinning it around. "Where's your head? Do you know how old the girls are! They not ready for marriage... they can't leave to settle down. And in case you forgot, we can't get new Rangers. DNA bonding!"

"Mom?" Hayden called, leading the team down the stairs and joining her mother and Dr. K in the garage. "What was all the yelling?"

"Yeah, Aunt K, it sounded like you were going to rip that woman's head off!" Mike laughed. He pulled up a chair, flopping down into it before reaching over to the table and grabbing the bowl of leftover chips.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea..." Kaylee smirked as she began to head towards the door. Summer quickly grabbed her Aunt's arm and held her back.

"So, what was all that really about?" Scott asked. "And if I'm not mistaken, I think I heard something about the girls not being ready for marriage?"

"Rangers... you might wanna take a seat," Kaylee sighed. She waited for the teens to be seated, before leaning on the edge of the desk. "Have you guys ever wondered where Dr. K and I got all the money to make... this?"

She gestured to the room around her while the teens looked around.

"Not really," Flynn frowned. "We all kind figured it came from you and Mrs. McKnight."

"Some of it did," Kaylee admitted. "Some of it also came from Dr. K... but the biggest portion was from..."

"Let me guess," Summer groaned. She could tell from her Aunt's tone of voice that the news she and the other Rangers were about to receive was nowhere near good. "From that lady that stole you and Dr. K away earlier... she's a Winchester... isn't she?"

Kaylee nodded sadly, lowering her head. She couldn't look the girls in the eye.

"Mrs. Winchester has made a request we, apparently, cannot refuse," Dr. K stated. "She would like to marry off her son, Chas, to one of you. It'll secure our financial situation, and it'll provide Chas with a wife.."

"Whoa... a wife?" Mike asked, standing up and turning so he was facing both the Rangers and the mentors. "A wife, as in a woman? A woman as in an older girl? A girl as in one of my cousins?"

"You want to marry Summer and Hayden to Chas?" Scott asked.

"Well, it would be more like Ranger Series Yellow, _**or**_ Pink," Dr. K corrected. "Marrying both of them to Chas would be preposterous... if not disrespectful to both Rangers, and women all around Corinth, and if news travels quickly enough, NewTech."

"Yeah, we get it," Kaylee groaned.

"So, we have to marry Chas," Hayden started.

"Or what happens?" Summer finished.

"Mrs. Winchester didn't give us an 'or else'..." Kaylee sighed. "She's expecting us to go through with it... but I'm thinking that if we refuse, not only to they stop funding us... but they'll ask for their money back."

"Can you pay them back?" Ziggy asked. "I mean, you're rich. You're Kaylee Hanson! Legendary Green Ranger in the Ranger universe, and International Superstar in the regular universe..."

"I could pay them back, but because of the evacuation, the military and the economy... I would lose a lot of what I already have. And at the moment I have three children to support... two under the age of eighteen, and the other one isn't even my kid!"

"Aunt Kira totally owes you money," Mike asked, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Tell them to take their money and stuff it," Dillon spoke up for the first time. "We don't need anything of theirs. And Summer and Hayden don't have to marry their pretty-boy son."

"I'm afraid it's not that easy," Dr. K stated. "The Winchesters are very powerful. Before the Venjix virus, they were at the top of the food chain. Many people bowed at their feet, hoping they could spare even a dime. They had businesses all around the world. They made Bill Gates look like a homeless man!"

"Thanks for the mental image, Doc," Dillon frowned.

"So now I guess we have to decide which of the girls gets to marry Chas," Mike growled, balling his fists in anger at the thought of giving away one of his younger cousins. If it were up to him, they wouldn't even be allowed to date, never mind get married!

"It'll have to be Hayden," Kaylee said. "I can't force Summer to get married and I can't arrange a marriage for her. She's also underage... so she'll need parental approval."

"Your husband won't be happy," Dr. K reminded the blonde. Kaylee groaned, slamming her head on the table. She had forgotten about her husband, and now that Dr. K had reminded her, he was all she could think about; him and his reaction to his baby girl getting married to Pretty Boy Winchester.

"I'll do it," Summer whispered, raising her hand slightly. "Hayden's too young..."

"Summer, I can't ask you to do this," Kaylee told her. "Your mother would kill me, and Conner would provide her with the weapon, then bury me before I'm fully dead... not to mention what your sister would say..."

"Sammy's mad at me, remember," Summer muttered. "She wouldn't care. And you didn't ask... I offered."

"I always loved weddings," Flynn smiled, patting Summer on the back.

"Sum..." Hayden started, looking over at her cousin.

"Don't worry about it," Summer forced a smile as she hugged her cousin. "It's not your fault you're too young to get married... officially."

"No, it's not that," Hayden smirked, pulling away. She got off her chair and walked up between her mother and Dr. K. "We go through with the wedding. Summer, you pretend to be the reluctant bride. Mike and I will try to find a way out of this."

"What do we do?" Ziggy asked, pointing to himself and the others.

"Look pretty?" Hayden suggested. "And eat cake."

"Alright!" Flynn cheered, hugging his pink Ranger. "I'm all for that last little bit."

-----Ranger-Yellow-----

"It's too... dressy," Summer commented, looking down at the dress she was wearing, while Kaylee finished fixing it up.

"It's a dress," Kaylee reminded her niece. "It's supposed to be dressy."

"Yeah, but does it have to be so... dressy?"

Kaylee groaned and poked the girl with the needle in her hand. Summer recoiled in pain before shutting her mouth.

"Mom!" Hayden yelled, running into the room, holding her morpher. "There's been a break in... Tenaya's after the Landsdown Diamond."

"This dressy dress'll have to wait," Summer said, stepping off the step stool. Kaylee grabbed her arm and pulled her back, before she could even think about running to the door, behind her cousin.

"Whoa, you're not going anywhere," she said. "You have a lunch rehearsal to attend."

"But..."

"It's all a part of the plan," Kaylee winked at her niece. "If the team starts to struggle, I'll totally let you go... hell you can go in the dress and rip it up if you want."

Summer turned to Hayden, who nodded.

-----Ranger-Yellow-----

"Venjix, I am returning with the diamond," Tenaya said into her wrist morpher as she held a black box in her hand. She didn't bother to look inside, she knew she had what she wanted.

She was interrupted by the sound of cars breaking, which could only mean one thing (well, two things actually, but the chances that a car was driving in the middle of a plaza while it was under attack was highly unlikely), the Rangers had arrived.

"I love a good challenge," she smirked, lowering her visor as she looked at each of the Rangers, noticing that yellow was missing.

The Rangers pulled out their sabres and each tried attacking the attack bot. Even with six Rangers on her back, she could hold them off (all while making Ziggy scream in pain).

"But it looks like I'll have to settle with you guys," she sighed. She knocked Scott down to the ground fairly quickly, before swinging at Dillon. He jumped away, landing a few feet from the fight, while Tenaya continued with Flynn and Ziggy.

The Blue Ranger tried tackling her to the ground, but Tenaya grabbed him by the throat and threw him down beside Scott. Ziggy grabbed her arm with one hand while holding the other with his blaster. Tenaya rolled her eyes, taking his blaster and shooting it at Dillon before kicking Ziggy down.

"Hey!" Hayden yelled as she was tossed in the air by Michael. "Ya missed us!"

"Oh, I didn't miss you," Tenaya laughed, grabbing Scott's sabre from the ground. She waited until Hayden was directly above her, before swinging at the Pink Ranger.

Hayden landed in a heap beside Flynn and Scott, holding her stomach.

"Oh, yeah..." she groaned. "Now I feel pain."

Michael growled as she charged towards the femme fatal. Tenaya laughed as she kicked Ziggy in the ribs, sending him flying backwards, and right into Mike.

"This was too easy," she commented, picking up the black box from the ground as she turned to walk away. "You Rangers should know that you can never defeat me, Tenaya, generation seven, Venjix human infiltration attack bot..."

"Sorry, but I have a lunch to get to," Summer called from behind the robot, catching her attention. "Can we skip all the bad guy blah, blah?"

"Summer!" Mike called, and all the Rangers looked up at her, a little surprised she was wearing her dress to the fight.

Dillon's eyes widened as he looked at the yellow Ranger.

"_Happy birthday, Dillon," a young girl smiled, offering Dillon a present as she stood at his door. He couldn't make out her face, but he saw she was wearing a beautiful yellow summer dress. He took the present from her and let her inside. He could tell by the way she was tugging and pulling on her dress, that she had been forced to wear it, but he didn't mind all that much. After all, his parents had forced him to wear the suit._

Dillon was snapped out from his flashback when he heard Summer scream. He looked up and saw she was attacking Tenaya. The attack bot was throwing multiple punches and kicks, but they were all being deflected by Summer.

Suddenly, with one swing of her arm, Tenaya nearly connected with Summer's face, but the girl pulled away quickly. It had been a little too quickly, because she had thrown herself off balance and fell back onto a pile of wood. She flipped backwards, over it, before Tenaya could use her situation to her advantage.

With the pile of wood standing between them, Tenaya knew there was no way she could land a decent shot. Summer must have realised this as well, because both women jumped up, kicking their feet in the air.

Tenaya's kick missed, but Summer was dead on, hitting the attack bot in the back and forcing her to the ground as she landed.

"Tell your lunch date not to wait up," Tenaya smirked, getting up and glaring through her visor at Summer.

"What are you talking about?" Summer asked, failing to notice that Tenaya was missing her right hand. The same hand that was slowly creeping up behind Summer, holding a laser blaster.

"Summer," Mike called, trying to catch his cousin's attention.

Tenaya merely smirked, holding her position to keep Summer from averting her eyes to the hand.

"Summer!" Hayden called, pulling herself to her feet as the hand aimed the blaster at Summer.

"What?" Summer frowned, finally noticing the missing hand. But it was too late, the hand had already pulled the trigger, and the laser was shot.

"RPM, GET IN GEAR!" Hayden yelled, transforming into the pink Ranger as she flipped behind Summer, taking the blow of the laser. Thankfully, she didn't feel the pain, and her ranger suit protected her from harm.

She pulled out her blaster after quickly recovering from the shock, and shot at the hand, breaking it to pieces.

"Aw, drat!" Tenaya sighed, looking at her hand, which would once again need repairing. "No matter, you're all too late! I already got what I came for. Behold the key to your destruction."

Tenaya opened her black box, but it was empty.

"Aw, double drat," she curse. She saw Summer glaring at her menacingly, before her mouth curled up in a smirk. She growled as she disappeared.

-----Ranger-Yellow-----

"She didn't have the diamond," Scott breathed, pacing around the garage as he recounted the events of the battle to Dr. K. "It wasn't in the box... someone still has it."

"Whoever it is must not know the power it contains," Dr. K said.

"It has power?" Flynn frowned. "I thought it was just your everyday, black diamond."

"She means danger," Hayden explained. "If Venjix wants it... he'll stop at nothing to get it."

"We have to make sure we get that diamond before he does," Scott nodded.

"Anyone could have it though," Ziggy pointed out. "If it even still exists. Who knows what could have happened to it during the evacuations."

"What's the diamond worth anyways?" Dillon asked. "I'm sure whoever has it won't just give it up."

"It's worth millions," Ziggy told him. "It would sell for billions on the black-market though."

"Then it's perfect," Dillon said, and the others thought they saw a ghost of a smile on his face. "We get the diamond, foil Venjix's plans with it, and then sell it."

"What does selling it have to do with anything?" Dr. K asked. "Whether it's a threat or not, we should still keep it under lock and key."

"You don't get it, Doc," Dillon groaned. "If it's worth millions, then we can use that money to pay back the Winchesters, and we can pull Summer out of the wedding."

"I'm loving the plan as much as the next guy," Flynn frowned. "But I think Dr. K has a point. We can't sell it. If Venjix wants it now, who's to say he won't' want it later. Then what do we do, huh pretty boy?"

"It doesn't matter," Dillon yelled, slamming his fist down on the table. If we don't sell it, Summer's going to get married to some rich-ass snob, and we'll be down a Ranger. I'm sure _Chas_ won't let her leave the mansion to go running around in spandex."

"That is not SPANDEX!" Dr. K yelled.

"Whatever," Dillon shrugged, throwing her statement aside. "If we don't sell it, we're down a Ranger, but if we do, we have that Ranger to help us protect whatever sucker ends up with no cash and a shiny black diamond."

"I think Dillon's got a point," Hayden smiled. "And how many times do you think Venjix is going to reuse the same plan. I mean, he's not exactly known for recycling anything."

"Alright, now we just have to figure out who has the diamond, get it from them, then sell it," Scott said.

-----Ranger-Yellow-----

"So, they don't have the diamond?" Kaylee asked, fixing up Summer's dress by sewing up the holes and allowing her niece to wear her black, leather coat overtop.

"Tenaya thought she did... but it the box she was holding was empty."

"There she is!" Mrs. Winchester smiled, running up to Summer and hugging her. "My future daughter in law!"

Summer gagged at her new title, but held it together for the act.

Kaylee laughed softly at her niece, before noticing the diamond Mrs. Winchester wore around her neck.

"Mrs. Winchester... is that the Landsdown?" she asked, reaching out to touch the diamond. Mrs. Winchester slapped her hand away and grabbed it.

"Oh course it is," she said. "It's the most expensive diamond in the world! Nobody but me can afford to buy such a rare necklace."

Kaylee and Summer exchanged worried looks. The problem just got a whole lot worse, and it looked like it wasn't going to get any better, anytime soon.


	11. Ranger Yellow Part II

"Summer," Hayden called, running up to the bride, who was sitting in her room. The other Rangers were right behind Hayden, equally excited about the news the Pink Ranger was ready to share. "We think we figured out how to pull you out of the wedding... but we have to act fast."

"Really?" Summer asked hopefully, looking up at her friends. They boys couldn't deny how beautiful she looked in her white wedding dress and the light makeup. Mike smiled at her cousin, but Hayden seemed unaffected by it.

"We just need to find the Landsdown, sell it on the black-market, and we can use the money to pay back the Winchesters. On top of that, we'll have money left over to support Project Ranger on our own!"

Summer's face fell when she heard that her escape plan was the Landsdown. She already knew that the Winchesters were in possession of the diamond, and they weren't about to give it up to anyone.

"That's the problem," she sighed, falling back onto the bed. Hayden sat down beside her, looking lost. Summer continued to explain. "They have the diamond. There's no way we can get it from them, and use the money to pay them back... I'm screwed."

"Well, why don't we talk them out of this... let them know that if you get married, and have to be pulled out of Project Ranger, they might die at the hands of Venjix," Ziggy suggested, sitting on the other side of Summer and rubbing her back soothingly.

"Or you can take it from them," Dillon said.

"I'll try reasoning with them," Summer sighed. "But this can't go well."

She got up and walked to the door, before feeling a small hand on her shoulder.

"I'll come with you," Hayden smiled. "You might need to punch something."

-----Ranger-Yellow-----

"Mrs. Winchester!" Summer called, running down on of the long hallways, with Hayden right behind her. "Mrs. Winchester, wait up."

"Summer, dear, shouldn't you be getting ready for the wedding?" Mrs. Winchester asked. "You know, there's little under an hour before the ceremony."

"Mrs. Winchester, we need the Landsdown," Summer said, pointing to the necklace.

"This?" Mrs. Winchester's hand flew to her necklace, holding it tight as she looked down at the two girls. "Why on earth would you need this?"

"Has your head ever come out of your ass?" Hayden asked. "Like, even for a minute?"

"Excuse me?" Mrs. Winchester frowned, appalled at how this teenager was addressing her.

"Venjix, the evil computer virus that took over earth and is forcing us to live in this dome city to protect ourselves from certain destruction, sent someone to retrieve the diamond last night," Summer explained.

"Venjix?"

"See!" Hayden frowned, pointing to the rich woman before her. "Head, too far up ass for her own good! She doesn't even know we're living in a dome!"

"What we're trying to say, is that Venjix wants the diamond, and he'll stop at nothing to get it from you," Summer said.

"We need the diamond," Hayden summarized.

"You need the diamond?" Mrs. Winchester smirked. "Well, I need this wedding."

"So, are you saying you won't give me the diamond?" Summer asked.

"I'll give it to you, after the wedding."

"NO!" Hayden yelled. "You life is in danger. If you give us the diamond, we can protect you! Venjix will _KILL_ you to get what he wants! All we need as pay is Summer."

"You already have her," Mrs. Winchester frowned. "She's right there."

"No, we want to cancel the wedding."

"Summer dear, you're betrothed," Mrs. Winchester smiled, tucking Summer's hair behind her ear. "Your Aunt has promised us your hand in marriage to our son. You can't back out of it now."

"We need the diamond!" Hayden yelled, reaching for the necklace. Mrs. Winchester screamed, slapping Hayden. Her, long, sharp and fake nails cut the skin of the Pink Ranger, causing Hayden to pull her arm away in pain. Mrs. Winchester watched in horror as the skin healed itself.

"What are you?" she asked, grabbing Hayden's arm, searching for any signs of a cut or scratch.

"Earth's only hope."

"If this is a trick to get me to hand over the diamond, then I'm afraid it's not going to work," Mrs. Winchester said. "If Summer and Chas get married, you can have it... but not a minute before."

With that, the woman walked away. Hayden growled as she turned to her cousin, looking up at her sadly.

"Well... there's always divorce."

-----Ranger-Yellow-----

After the girls returned to Summer's room, they explained to the boys how the plan had failed. Now not only did Mrs. Winchester have the diamond, but she also knew the Rangers were desperate for it. The only thing the Rangers still had on their side was the actual reason behind it. While Mrs. Winchester believed the Landsdown was a precious diamond that Venjix wanted for his army, the true reason behind the Ranger's desperation was that it was the only thing that could save Summer from a wedding of doom.

Ziggy now stood in the Garage, testing the mic and acting as if everything was a-okay.

"Twenty-two minutes and counting... until we're all filthy rich," he laughed nervously, counting down the minutes in his head. He tapped on the mic gently before speaking into it. "Testing..."

"Naw, turn it up, man," Flynn frowned, standing by the amplifiers, wearing the traditional kilt. "It's a wedding reception. Who can have fun if you can't hear the music?"

Dr. K and Kaylee were sitting on a bench, watching everyone and preferring to stay away, but that didn't stop one of the Winchester guests from walking up to them and sitting beside Dr. K.

"Hey, don't I know you?" she asked. "Did you go to Hobson College? Newton Prep, maybe?"

"I grew up working around the clock working in a top secret military think tank, codename: Alphabet Soup," Dr. K answered. The girl frowned, trying to process the many words Dr. K had just used.

"... were you in a sorority?" she finally asked.

Kaylee groaned, pushing the girl away to give both women some peace. Dr. K looked over at Kaylee and noticed her pain. She decided to pull her away from the wedding and take her to Summer and Hayden, who were sitting in the Bride room.

As they walked through the door, Dr. K walked up to Summer, smiling slightly.

"Ranger Operator Series Yellow, you look positively radiant," she said.

"Really?" Summer smiled, happy to finally hear something positive about the wedding. Though everyone thought it, no one had told her yet that she looked beautiful.

"No, but I was told it was customary to say so..." Dr. K frowned.

"You look beautiful, honey," Kaylee smirked, hugging her niece.

"Hey, mom," Hayden called as she sat on her Pink chair, playing with the surveillance system. "Do you notice anything weird about the caterer?"

"Other than the fact that she put the cake on the recycled oil bin?" Kaylee frowned, walking up behind her daughter.

"Well, yeah," Hayden admitted as she zoomed in the camera to give the other women a better look. "But look at her face."

"Isn't that...?"

"Exactly," Hayden smiled, looking up at her mother. "T7 is here. And now, our promise to protect Mrs. Winchester is real. We can't let her get a hold of the diamond!"

"But who knows when she's going to attack the wedding," Dr. K pointed out. "It could be long after the ceremony has passed. If we send Summer out there, she could be married and we might lose the diamond."

"Hayden," Summer called, walking to the dress rack. "Help me pick out a dress."

"But I'm already wearing one?" Hayden frowned, joining her cousin.

"I know," Summer smiled. "You're not the bride. If the wedding does happen, and you sign as me, nothing'll happen, and neither I, nor you will be married."

"But what about T7?" Kaylee asked. "We'll need all the Rangers at the ready in case she chooses to attack."

"Hayden can't die," Summer reminded her Aunt. But if T7 is here, it's because she knows I'm getting married. If she attacks me, who is really Hayden, nothing's going to happen, and she'll be thrown off guard."

"What if Chas finds out your not... you?" Dr. K asked.

"He's never seen me," Summer smirked. "As far as he knows, I'm the young blonde in a wedding dress."

Summer pointed to Hayden, holding up a wedding dress to her cousin. Dr. K and Kaylee both smiled as they realised Summer's plan might work.

"And what about you, what are you going to do?" Dr. K asked.

"I'm going to get that diamond, and cancel this wedding," Summer smirked.

-----Ranger-Yellow-----

Music started playing as the bride stepped out from behind the doors, wearing her beautiful white dress and a veil to cover her face. On her wrist was a pink band the women had chosen to use as a code. For the rangers, it told them who was under the veil, but for anyone else, it was a fashion choice.

Dustin took the bride's hand and leaned down to talk to her.

"Hayden?" he whispered. "What the hell are you doing in there?"

"Walking down the aisle with my favourite daddy," Hayden giggled softly. "Don't worry, it's all a part of the plan."

"What plan?" Dustin frowned. "Why do I never know about these plans?"

"You'll find out soon," Hayden said. She reached the end of the aisle, where Dustin was supposed to let her go. Hayden stepped forward, but her arm was caught. "Uncle Dustin!" she muttered, pulling her arm.

Dustin shook his head, afraid of what could happen if he let go of his baby girl.

"Uncle Dustin!" Hayden yelled, pulling hard enough to break free, causing the guests to laugh.

Meanwhile, Summer was making her way through the seats, wearing Hayden's pink dress so she could pass by unnoticed. She reached the spot where Mrs. Winchester was seated, and tapped her shoulder.

Mrs. Winchester frowned as she looked down at the supposed-to-be-bride.

"Summer, aren't you...?"

"Shh!" Summer shushed, putting her hand over Mrs. Winchester's mouth. "You're in danger."

"I told you," Mrs. Winchester started. "You're not getting the diamond until after the wedding."

"We need that diamond for more reasons that you can ever imagine!" Summer said. She realised the garage wasn't the best place to talk, so she pulled her mother in-law out of the audience and into the lab, where Kaylee and Dr. K were waiting.

"Okay, listen up, and listen well," Summer started, pushing the rich woman into a seat. "My cousin is standing there, about to get married in my place."

"Well, that's not my fault, is it?" Mrs. Winchester frowned. "I mean, if she wanted my son, she should have taken me up on the offer."

"Mrs. Winchester, I hate to be rude, but... shut up for a minute," Summer snapped. "We need that diamond, because we were going to sell it for money... until we found out you had it."

"Sell it?" Mrs. Winchester started, but one look from Summer shut her up.

"We were going to find it, and sell it to some of Ziggy's 'friends', so we could have the money to back out of the wedding and pay you and your family back for every penny you gave Project Ranger," Summer continued. "But when we found out you had it, we had to get it from you, to sell it, to give you the money to cancel the wedding."

"Then you refused to give it until the wedding was good and done with," Kaylee started. "Even with your life in danger, you refused to let go of the bloody diamond, which by the way, isn't a beautiful as I thought it would be. Honestly, I've seen nicer..."

"Aunt Kaylee," Summer interrupted.

"Anyways," Kaylee said. "Before, we said you were in danger, to trick you into giving up the diamond... well, it was only half a trick, you were still in danger..."

"Aunt Kaylee," Summer called again.

"But now, the caterer is one of Venjix' attack robot thingies, and she's after the diamond."

"So what do you want me to do?" Mrs Winchester asked. "Act as if I believe you and hand over the world's most precious ston-"

"That's not the most precious stone," Dr. K frowned, correcting Mrs. Winchester's inaccuracy. "Years ago, six Rangers wielded the power of the Dino Gems, using them to fight off an evil Dinosaur mutant and therefore saving the world, temporarily of course. Afterwards, those six gems have been labelled as the most precious stones in existence, with the Landsdown paling in comparison to their value and their beauty."

"That's only a legend," Mrs. Winchester rolled her eyes, waving off what she thought was a myth.

"Yeah, and I'm not the world famous female Green Ranger," Kaylee muttered, before Summer elbowed her in the stomach.

"Mrs. Winchester, your life is in serious danger, unless you give us what we want," Summer said. "Cancelled wedding plans, for your protection."

"Can I keep the diamond?" Mrs. Winchester asked.

"Keep it, I don't care, just pull my niece out of the wedding, before I forcefully remove your head from your rich ass!" Kaylee growled.

-----Ranger-Yellow-----

Back at the wedding, the minister was just about to begin, when a figure jumped down from the upper level, kicking away the bridesmaids and the ushers before landing in front of the bride and groom (the latter was hiding behind his soon-to-be-wife).

Just as she landed, the doors busts open as an army of Grinders stormed in, surrounded both the Rangers and the wedding guests.

"Give me the diamond!" Tenaya yelled, watching as Dr. K, Kaylee and Summer (who everyone but the Rangers thought was Hayden) ran into the room from the lab. Mrs. Winchester was right behind them, horrified that the women were right.

"She wants the diamond!" she cried, holding her necklace.

"I would say I told you so," Summer said. "But I think this says it for me."

"I'll say it!" Kaylee offered, raising her hand. Dr. K and Summer shot her a look, but that didn't stop her. "Told ya."

"It doesn't matter who was right," Tenaya called. "The Landsdown diamond is finally going to be mine, and now, this city is doomed to the ashes of extinction."

Tenaya smiled as she turned to the bride.

"Oh, by the way, love the dress, Ranger Yellow."

She lifted the veil and frowned when she saw it wasn't yellow, but pink underneath.

"Thanks," Hayden smirked. "I would say I look positively radiant."

"Ranger Pink?" the attack bot cried, turning back to where the four women were standing. "But I thought Yellow was supposed to be the one in the wedding dress."

"There were a few changes," Summer called, walking down the aisle. The guests all gasped when they realised what happened.

Tenaya screamed as she jumped down off the elevated platform, with only one idea in mind. Get the diamond and get out.

Mrs. Winchester backed away when she saw the evil robot running for her.

"I don't wanna die!" she called. "I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die!"

"Say it!" Kaylee yelled, stepping out of Tenaya's way.

"I don't wanna die!"

"Cancel the wedding!" Kaylee yelled once more. "Don't force my niece to do something she doesn't want to do. Cancel it!"

"It's off!" Mrs. Winchester screamed. "The wedding's off!"

"Music to my ears," Kaylee smiled as she turned to Tenaya, who by now was only steps away from the rich woman. She jumped up and kicked the robot back.

Tenaya was pushed back and away from her target, while Kaylee stood between them.

"I suffer from a little something known to my family as A.D.O.S," Kaylee explained, nodding her head slightly as the Rangers took their position behind Tenaya, standing guard in case the villainess tried something.

"A.D... what?" Tenaya asked.

"Attention Defic- Ohh SHINY!" Hayden explained. "It means my mom likes shiny objects."

"And you wouldn't try to steal such a pretty necklace from me, would you?" Kaylee asked.

"You're just the pathetic mentor," Tenaya laughed. "What can you do?"

"Ah, Dr. K is the pathetic mentor," Kaylee grinned, putting herself in a fighting stance. "I'm the experienced one."

"Translation," Mike laughed. "My Aunt is going to totally kick your ass from here to NewTech before you can even think about retrieving the Landsdown."

Tenaya was willing to test Michael's theory, when she ordered the Grinder's to attack.

"Finally, something fun," Dillon smiled, grabbing one of the Grinders and ripping it apart with his hands. The others stopped to look at him, a little confused at his raw power.

"You know... we'll talk later," Summer giggled. "Let's just enjoy ass kicking!"

"Hey, T7," Kaylee called, bringing Tenaya's attention from the Grinder's, back to her. "You're head's almost as far up your ass as Mrs. Winchesters! Didn't your Master tell you to fight with people on your own level?"

Kaylee ran toward Tenaya, aiming a punch for her stomach. Tenaya recoiled in pain, bawling her fist for her attack. She lifted her hand and readied her punch, but Kaylee was gone.

"What?" she frowned.

"Three, two, one," Dr. K counted, before a ZWOP! echoed in the room.

Tenaya felt something slam her in the back as she turned around to see Kaylee. She growled in pain as she got to her feet.

"This isn't over, Rangers," she yelled, limping to the door. Dustin laughed as he appeared from the air, spinning and kicking her down again.

"Seeya next time, T7," he smirked. "And thank you for ruining this wedding, and not letting my daughter get married... I think I owe you thank much."

Wow," Hayden laughed, picking up her younger brother as she walked up to her father. "I know you're supposed to be the protective type, but she ruined my wedding. You should be mad at her for breaking my heart!"

"When she ruins your actual wedding I'll be sure to kick her ass," Dustin said, kissing Hayden's head as he took Christian from her.

"Kaylee... I am not pathetic!" Hayden and Dustin heard Dr. K yell as she ran behind Kaylee and Summer. The Rangers all rolled their eyes, regrouping together to celebrate the wedding that wasn't happening.

"I know," Kaylee said, wrapping her arm around the doctor. You're anything but... unfortunately that's the word T7 used, so I had to go with it."

"So, what are we going to do about the money thing?" Flynn asked, pointing to the Winchester family. "We kinda can't pay them back."

"Leave this to me," Hayden smirked, picking up the front of her dress as she walked over to them.

"What do you want?" Mrs Winchester asked, disappointment in her voice. She had lost. Her son wasn't going to get married, and it looked like RPM could live without her.

"Any ideas for this financial plan?" Hayden asked. "Because this isn't working for us... and my mother did just save your ass... I think you owe her a little..."

"You don't have to worry about paying us back," Mrs. Winchester sighed. "But we are, in no way, helping your spandex team of superheroes anymore. You are all one your own!"

"That is not SPANDEX!" Dr. K yelled, running after the rich woman. Mrs. Winchester began to run away in fear of the smaller woman as Dr. K explained what the suits were made of.

"Hey, shouldn't we stop her?" Mike asked.

"Naw," Dillon smirked, putting an arm around Summer. "Let her learn not to mess with RPM the hard way."


	12. Ranger Blue

"...as promised, I will now open the floor to any and all questions regarding the Ranger bio series suits, vehicles and hardware," Dr. K said as she pointed to the screen behind her, displaying several different pictures of the Ranger suits and Zords. With her pointing stick, she slammed the desk beside her, where Kaylee had fallen asleep once again in the middle of one of Dr. K's update meetings.

Kaylee jumped up and rubbed her eyes, while Dr. K rolled her own. She turned to the Rangers and frowned when they were all silent.

"Anyone?" she asked, but still no hands were raised. "Speak now or forever hold your peace."

Just like that, six of the seven hands hesitantly went up in the hair, with Ziggy raising two of his own. Dr. K smiled as she pointed to Scott. He was leader, he got to go first.

"What's with the eyes on our Zords?" Scott asked, getting off his chair to speak to the doctor.

"What eyes?" Dr. K frowned, turning to the screen. Maybe she was missing something.

"What do you mean _what eyes_?" Scott asked. He raised his hand and pointed to the picture of his eagle Zord, where two big eyes were placed at the front, on either side of the beak. "Right there, the front of our Zords."

"They are not eyes," Dr. K started.

"Oh boy," Kaylee breathed, sitting back in her seat to watch this unfold.

"They're optical field scanning sensors for your cockpit's H.U.D display."

"Well, they look like... well, they look like..." Scott stammered, thinking that if he persisted, he might anger the small doctor.

"They look like eyes!" Dillon spoke up, growing impatient. He didn't want to be in the meeting in the first place, but a certain D-Green Ranger and a Blue Ranger dragged him by the ear and forced him into the seat, so he might as well stay... until he could find a way to sneak out and leave.

"Big, googly, anime eyes," Ziggy added.

Dr. K looked at the team with a confused gaze, and noticed they were all behind Scott on this one. She turned to Kaylee, who laughed and nodded.

Rolling her own eyes, Dr. K turned to Scott, "Next!"

Mike jumped up and walked to the middle of the room.

"Why is the red dude the leader?" he asked, pointing to Scott. "Why is it always red? Why can't it be green, or orange?"

"There are no Orange Rangers, Ranger Dark Green," Dr. K sighed.

"No, no, I know," Mike said, hushing his mentor. "But there have only been a few exceptions to the rule... other than that, the dude who got the red suit, got to be leader? What makes him qualified?"

"I've put Ranger Operator Series Red under a number of tests to determine whether he had potential to be the leader. Only then-"

"That's nice and all Doc, by why couldn't Scott be another colour and be leader?" Mike asked. "I mean, why always red?"

"It's a pretty colour?" Kaylee answered weakly, looking over at her nephew.

"I think green is better," Mike sated firmly.

"I do too!" Kaylee agreed. "But Dr. K said it had to be red!"

"Yeah, why?" Mike asked.

"Red is the color of power," Dr. K explained. "It would make sense to put the most powerful Ranger in red."

"But I thought Dillon was the most powerful," Hayden frowned. "Because of the whole, only a few select people can handle the power of Ranger Black thing... so why isn't he the leader?"

Dr. K growled as she looked up at Mike.

"NEXT!" she yelled.

Ziggy quickly jumped down from his chair and ran up to Dr. K.

"Okay, so sometimes, when I morph, I can't help but notice this gigantic explosion right behind me, for no apparent reason..."

Dr. K was staring at Ziggy as if he had grown another head. Where all the questions going to be this pathetic?

"I assume you're referring to the residual energy run off that is sometimes necessary to clear the suits bio-field channels during the morph..." Dr. K pointed to the screen, where a video of Ziggy morphing was being shown.

"I'm referring to the six story high fire balls... like that one right there!" Ziggy explained, pointing as an explosion went off in the video. "Now, could that happen to me in the kitchen, or something?"

Dr. K turned to Kaylee, desperately wondering if she had to answer this.

"Hey, I've been wondering the same thing my entire life. I mean, you could kill a team-mate with that explosion," Kaylee giggled. "All it takes is a Ranger to step behind you when you morph, and BOOM they're done like tonight's turkey dinner."

"Yeah, and what if you're protecting someone... if they're hiding behind you, would they be fried as well?" Ziggy asked.

Dr. K breathed in deeply as she tried desperately not to smack the Rangers over the head. So far, they had all been stupid. She looked over at the two Rangers who still had their hands up, Hayden and Flynn. She was almost positive Hayden, being the daughter of the woman who created the morphers, was going to have a pertinent question, so she decided to let her go first, before her she lost it.

"Hayden, please save me," she mumbled as Ziggy went to sit down.

"Okay, so this is my question," Hayden started, walking to the tubes that currently held the Ranger suits. "How many of these are you hiding?"

"Excuse me?" Dr. K frowned.

"How many ya got?" Hayden asked again. "I mean, seeing as we've all bonded with our uniforms, no one else can use them unless they share our DNA... so what if one of us dies? Do you have backup suits?"

"I do not expect any of you to die," Dr. K groaned.

"Well, I don't either, but it happens," Hayden smirked. "It almost happened to me twice! And I can't die, so these guys are _screwed_!"

"We have two more suits in case something goes wrong," Kaylee assured her daughter.

"What colors?" Hayden giggled.

"Ranger Pink, this has nothing to do with what I've discussed in the meeting!" Dr. K reminded the blonde.

"Yes it does," Hayden stated matter of factly. "You told us to ask if we had any questions involving the suits. And this involves the suits, thus the suits part in my question do you have extra suits?"

Dr. K once again turned to Kaylee, but her partner shrugged.

"She's right... used suits a lot, but she's still right," Kaylee laughed.

"You Rangers are hopeless," Dr. K breathed, only to regret it when Mike's hand shot up.

"I thought we were hope_ful_," he said. "I mean, we're the world's only hope of returning to the way it was before the Venjix... so that would mean we're giving hope to the..."

Mike trailed off when Dr. K's annoyed look turned to him. Slowly he lowered his hand and shut his mouth.

Flynn was the last to go, as he took his spot on the floor.

"When we morph, is it absolutely, one hundred percent necessary that we scream out _RPM, Get in Gear_ at the top of our lungs?" he asked.

"Uh, that's a very good point," Ziggy said, backing up his Scottish friend. "Some of us are trying to impress chicks."

Hayden and Summer both leaned forward in their seats to stare at Ziggy. He caught the looks and quickly continued, "I never said it was working. I said trying... key word..."

"Yeah, and it's definitely not helping," Flynn agreed.

"Princess, do you find it a turn on?" Dillon teased, leaning forward to look at the Pink Ranger. Hayden glared at him, while his eyes pointed to Flynn. She growled at him and smirked.

"You and Summer aren't together yet," she retorted. "So I would say no."

The boys held back a laugh while Summer sunk down in her seat. This was really uncomfortable. Dillon's smirk faded as he leaned back on his chair.

"The local call out is a voice recognition safety and security measure," Dr. K snapped. "Not a 'chick magnet'!"

"Well, maybe we could have a bit of a change," Flynn suggested, but it didn't seem to make matters any better.

"A change?" Dr. K growled, losing her temper.

"Like um, Rangers to the Rescue, or, um, Rangers Justice Unleashed?"

"We did the unleashed thing," Kaylee pointed out. "With my Jungle Fury team... it came with a dance... it doesn't help with the chick thing when you boys are getting your ballet groove on with a pair of big, flashy sunglasses."

"Rangers!" Dr. K yelled, aiming her glare at the teens, and Kaylee. "Justice is an abstract ideological concept. We deal with tangible realities, not justice. You want justice... go read a comic book."

Flynn began to stare off into space as he remembered a time when he was back at home, reading a comic book at school...

-----Ranger-Blue-----

A young Flynn was sitting on a table in the school yard, reading his favourite comic book, Rebel Justice Unleashed, Volume two, when he heard a girl begging for something to be returned to her. He turned and looked over his shoulder, where he spotted a bigger boy holding a pink lunch box over his head and out of her reach.

"You better do what she says," Flynn called out, walking over to the bully, holding his comic in his hand. Now, it was his turn to play the hero. "After all, she said the magic words."

Flynn couldn't remember what happened next. All he knew was that he found himself lying face down in the grass, with the bully on top of him, twisting his arm behind his back. Finally, the bully got off and walked away, leaving the little Flynn in severe pain.

He looked up and spotted the little girl, holding her lunch box under her arm as she approached him. He smiled at her, until she opened her lunch box and dumped it all over him, finally storming off in a hurry, as if she was offended that he stood up for her.

Back at home, Flynn was sitting in the garage with his father as the older man worked on his car.

"Flynn, my boy," the man started. "What were ya thinking?"

"I was thinking I could help," Flynn answered, twirling his wrist in a circular motion.

"Well, look where that got you, two weeks suspension," he father said as Flynn passed him a wrench. "No good deed goes unpunished, Flynn, remember that."

Flynn lowered his head, looking down at the comic book in his hand. His father pulled it away and held it for.

"You think you're one of these super heroes?" he asked. "What are you going to do with your life, son? Dance around in silly coloured tights? Trust me son, there's no such thing as super heroes."

-----Ranger-Blue-----

"Hello, Corinth to Scotland," Hayden called, waving her hand in front of Flynn's face, hoping to snap him out of whatever day dream he was in. "Is anyone there?"

"What?" Flynn asked suddenly, shaking his thoughts out of his head.

"A shield breach in industrial distract, zone seven," Hayden explained, parroting what Dr. K had mentioned not seconds before. "C'mon!"

Hayden pulled Flynn by the arm to the door, where the others were already headed.

-----Ranger-Blue-----

"Let's make this snappy, can we," Tenaya barked as she rounded the corner to see the destruction the latest attack bot had caused to the city. "For once it would be nice to get this done before you know who shows up."

"No, I don't know who, mind telling?" Hayden grinned as she and the other Rangers appeared in sight.

Grinders quickly positioned themselves in front of Tenaya, who was backed up by General Shifter and Crunch. Tenaya growled as her hand shot up, pointing to the Rangers.

"ATTACK!" she ordered, sending the Grinders forward.

"Why do they always send these guys to fight us?" Mike asked, kicking down one Grinder, while ducking under another's arm, only to sweep his legs underneath it. "I mean, do they want us to warm up?"

"We could pull a muscle," Ziggy laughed, jumping in the air to avoid a kick. "It's a little training session before the big bad guy. I mean, they knew that they would win if they just sent out a giant ass monster right away."

"It's best to start off with the small guys, and work their way up to defeat," Hayden added, walking through her group of Grinders as they slashed at her. With her powers now exposed to the world, she could use them freely. One Grinder jumped in front of her, bringing his sword down across the front of her body.

Flynn was throwing his group of Grinders around, hoping to finish them off soon so he could go home; maybe pick up one of his old comics. As he slammed himself into the final one, the others Rangers gathered around him.

"You okay?" Hayden asked his as he rubbed his shoulder, massaging it after the blow.

"As good as ever, lass," he grinned.

"Looks like the warm up's over," Scott smirked, reaching into his coat to pull out his morph cell. The others followed his lead, reaching into their own coats.

"Maybe this time we'll have time to stretch," Mike laughed, and after inserting his morph cell into the cell shift, he began stretching his arm.

"You think you're funny, Rangers?" Tenaya sneered, rolling her eyes.

"Ready?" Scott asked his team.

"Ready!" they answered.

"RPM, GET IN GEAR!"

While the six Rangers charged to the three remaining attack bots, Ziggy turned around, where the last little bit of fire from the explosion was still behind him.

"There, see that explosion!" he called.

"It's pretty, Ziggy!" Flynn yelled from the battle field. "Now come on!"

"I'm telling ya, that was just a little one!" Ziggy continued, as if he hadn't heard Flynn. He turned around to join his team, when out of nowhere, Tenaya was on his back, swinging her leg and kicking Ziggy into a car.

"Rangers... this feels so good to say," Tenaya smirked, before shifting slightly as the newest attack bot grew to monster size. "You're too late."

"Oh no!" Scott yelled.

"We gotta stop that thing from... well... from..." Mike hesitated, but not because the newest group of Grinders was aiming punches at his head, but because he couldn't tell what the attack bot was supposed to be.

"From whatever it is that thing is supposed to do!" Summer finished.

"T7," Hayden called, knocking out a Grinder, before grabbing its arms and swinging it around to clear a small area for herself. "What the hell is that thing?"

"It's better than Windex-bot," Tenaya growled.

While Tenaya was busy looking up at the monster, Ziggy tried to be the hero and take her out. But Tenaya's reflexes were definitely up there. She sensed Ziggy coming from behind her, and turned around in the blink of an eye. As Ziggy swung his arm at her head, she grabbed it and twisted it.

"I love Rangers," she smirked, sending a shiver down Ziggy's spine. "So determined, so heroic, and they come in all sizes, shapes and colors."

Tenaya threw Ziggy aside, like the ragdoll she believed he was, as Flynn charged at her aiming a punch for her face. She brought her hand up, catching the punch and grabbed him arm.

"Red is the perfect one, black is the brooding bad boy, D-Green's the protective one, L-Green's the clown, yellow's the moral boosted and pink's the princess... so what are you supposed to be?" Tenaya mocked, looking through Flynn's visor. Flynn looked down for a moment, before throwing Tenaya away with anger.

He stood poise as he readied himself to answer, "I'm Scottish!"

He ran for her again, engaging her in another battle, where the two were evenly matched with both avoiding blows from the other or countering a deadly attack.

Tenaya was thrown to the ground by Flynn, but rolled back into position, pulling out a hand laser and quickly firing it at Flynn. Dillon saw this and jumped in front of the Blue Ranger.

"Invisibility shield!" he yelled, summoning a small shield, protecting both himself and the Blue Ranger from the attack. Dillon took his turn with Tenaya as an idea came to mind.

"Flynn, my energy's low, I need recharge time!" he called.

"I can give ya ten seconds," Flynn told him. "Activating Time freeze Burst!"

A white light blanketed the battlefield, but once faded, the Rangers were still active, and Flynn was frozen solid.

"Um, hello, Fly-boy," Hayden called, waving a hand in front of Flynn's visor. "You're not supposed to freeze yourself!"

"Rangers, I'm showing a primary suit malfunction in Ranger Blue, my instruments are showing a time freeze reversal loop!" Dr. K explained to the Rangers over the communicators.

"Really," Hayden replied sarcastically.

"Can you confirm?" Dr. K asked.

"Of course they can," Kaylee spoke up. "Hayden just did. Are you oblivious to sarcasm?"

"Sarcasm?" Dr. K frowned.

"Oh boy," Kaylee groaned, rolling her eyes as she sunk down in her seat. She grabbed the communicator from Dr. K. "Rangers, protect Ranger Blue until he unfreezes, or you can bring him back here!"

-----Ranger-Blue-----

"Talk to me Flynn," Flynn's father asked as the now older Flynn walked into the small garage, wearing a graduation gown and cap. "Now that you're finished up in school, what are ya plannin' on doing with your life?"

"I just wanna help people," Flynn smiled, giving his father a tool, like he had always done when his father had lost it.

"Oh, yes, helping people," he father said in an amused, but slightly annoyed tone. "By doing what exactly?"

"Flynn McAllistair, police officer!" Flynn thought a loud.

"C'mon, son, you'll never make it past your first day!"

_Flynn, dressed in a police uniform, is escorting a young man down the street, while the chief of police is running behind him. Thinking he was doing a great job, he slapped a pair of handcuffs on the man._

"_Flynn, ya can't arrest him, he's the mayor's son," the chief said, grabbing Flynn's shoulder. Flynn looked down at the woman and frowned, so she explained. "It doesn't matter what he's done, he'll have your job."_

_Flynn just smirked and pushed the man down the street, so the chief of police pulled on his arm and ripped his badge off his uniform._

"_You're fired!" she said._

"Then, maybe a fireman..."

"_McAllistair, the chief wants ya to kill the hose!" Flynn heard over the communicator as sirens went off in the background. He stood, ready for action in his fireman's uniform. "You're causing water damage to the entire block!"_

"_Water damage?" Flynn asked. "There's blazes here man!"_

_He reached into his jacket and pulled out a bag filled with water. Inside was a small little goldfish. An elderly woman was overjoyed to see her pet was unharmed, and ran up to take it back. Flynn gave the small fish to its owner as he turned the hose back on and continued to put out the fire._

_Needless to say, he was fired._

"Or, an aide volunteer!"

_Flynn's team leader stood before him, with his bags packed as he tried breaking the news to the future blue Ranger._

"_Flynn, we have to evacuate immediately," he said. "The troupes are raiding villages up and down the river."_

"_Yeah, and what about them?" Flynn asked, gesturing to the indigenous tribe of the land. "They can't just evacuate... they live here!"_

"_Flynn, you know the rules. We can't interfere with the affairs of the local people."_

_Interfere with local... are you an idiot man?" Flynn yelled. "We just built organic tennis rackets factory in the middle of their village..."_

"_And the factory will provide organic tennis rackets for the... the under privileged indigenous people of this region!" the leader raised his voice for the last part, so the men behind Flynn could hear. The leader looked down at Flynn as he walked to the truck. "What more can we do?"_

_-------_

"_It's a good day to die, eh boys?" Flynn asked, his face full of paint as he stood before the tribe of men charging with their organic tennis rackets._

_Once more, Flynn was out of the job._

-----Ranger-Blue-----

"Guess you were right," Flynn sighed, holding the release papers of his three previous jobs, while standing in his father's garage. "No good deed goes unpunished."

The ground suddenly began to shake as a sonic boom echoed in the air.

"What in the world, man," his father yelled, grabbing onto the care for balance.

-----Ranger-Blue-----

"Flynn," Hayden called again, shaking Flynn slightly to snap him back. "Flynn, c'mon, Flynn!"

Hayden looked around. Her team was getting owned without her and Flynn to help, but she had to protect blue... unless.

"Guys! Fall back and focus on protecting blue!" she ordered, standing protectively in front of him. Her team-mates gathered around her, while Tenaya, Shifter and Crunch regrouped opposite of them.

"A touching display of teamwork," Tenaya smirked. "But you just gave me and my attack bot time to make a dramatic exit."

"You mean something more than just walking away?" Mike teased. Tenaya lifted her blaster and shot the ground.

When the smoke cleared, she was gone.

Suddenly, Flynn's suit unfroze, the Blue Ranger fell forward. Hayden and Mike caught him before he fell too far and steadied him slightly.

"My suit, what happened?" Flynn asked, looking down at his hands.

"We're looking into it," Kaylee assured Flynn from the communicator.

"It's probably the return of an energy flow series that plagued series blue during initiative development," Dr. K added.

-----Ranger-Blue-----

"My suit's plagued?" Flynn asked after the battle, standing behind Dr. K and Kaylee, while the others sat around the table nearby. "Now ya tell me..."

"Sorry, it kinda didn't seem important," Kaylee smiled weakly.

"So what kind of glitch are we talking about?" Flynn asked.

"You wouldn't understand," Dr. K told him, brushing him off.

"Doctor, I may be a simple mechanic, but I'm still a mechanic," Flynn stated.

"Very well," Dr. K stopped her work, spinning around in her chair to face Flynn. "Due to the blue color series time field manipulation properties, many of the series basic system elements exist in a fourth dimensional field were time is suspended. Because of time does not move forward on this plan of existence, there is a build up of run on energy that can reverse the polarity in the electron field, channelling through your suit, from morph cartridge injection sequence..."

"Okay..." Flynn stopped her, stepping back slightly. "Can we say that again, but in laymensplease."

"She doesn't speak English," Kaylee told the blue Ranger, stepping forward, holding a clipboard in her hands. "But what she means is that until we can divert the energy run offs, Ranger Blue is offline."

"Offline?" Flynn frowned, grabbing the clipboard to get a look at it for himself. "Well, with that thing still out there, what am I supposed to do, then?"

"Stand by," Kaylee ordered.

"Stand by?" Flynn growled "I can't stand by... I have to be out there helping them."

"You can't help them,' Kaylee explained. "You risk getting hurt. And one ranger down, means the team goes down."

"But we are one ranger down!" Flynn snapped, throwing the clipboard at the wall. Kaylee jumped at his sudden rage, but tried to stay calm. She knew that helping people meant the world to him, and he wasn't going to sit by while the others were getting their asses handed to them.

"I know it's hard," Kaylee sympathized, "But you have to put your safety first..."

"NO!" Flynn barked, wishing he hadn't of thrown the clipboard so soon. "They could..."

"Flynn, calm down," Kaylee said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Dr. K and I will stay up all night if we have to... we'll fix this thing and get you back online as soon as we can."

Dr. K spun around in her chair once more as she looked at Kaylee.

"Do you own a brain?" she asked. "In order to maintain a fully functioning mind the body needs to be well rested..."

"We're getting him online A.S.A.P," Kaylee growled.

"Until then, I'll stay with him," Hayden smiled, walking up to Flynn and touching his arm. "I'll keep him calm so you don't have to worry about him."

Kaylee smiled at her daughter, before turning back to the computer.

-----Ranger-Blue-----

A school bus pulled up in the middle of Corinth city as Flynn stepped out with his father. He turned around when he heard a woman crying out desperately.

"Please! You have to do something!" she called. "You have to help!

-----Ranger-Blue-----

"So, want the good news or the bad news?" Summer asked, pulling out a CD from a computer after it beeped.

"Good news."

"Bad news," Both Flynn and Dr. K said.

"The good news is, we figured out exactly what Venjix wanted in the warehouse," Scott laughed, patting his blue Ranger on the shoulder.

"The bad news?" Kaylee frowned.

"It's what's under the warehouse," Summer explained, taking Dr. K's spot on the secondary computer station. "Two major seismic bolt lines run under Corinth city. Venjix used the attack bot to drill through bolt line one."

"That's what that monster was?" Hayden laughed. "I thought it was a giant toy truck."

Summer looked up at her cousin, sharing a smile as she popped the CD into the computer.

"The monster's sucking up enough molten magma to power it up to an enormous size," Summer explained.

"I miss the days when the monsters would just magically grow, with no explanation as to how," Kaylee breathed.

"If the attack bot where able to drill into the second bolt line and deposit the lava there..." Dr. K started, literally shoving Summer out of her seat as she took control.

"Then it would throw off the pressure valves of the two bolts," Scott finished.

"Triggering a volcanic eruption big enough to destroy the whole city," Summer added.

Kaylee ran to the communicators, pushing the L-Green, Black and D-Green buttons. Ziggy, Dillon and Mike had left moments ago, before Flynn was lost in his daydream, to patrol the city in case of another Venjix attack.

"Ziggy, Dillon, Mike, you're patrolling close to what could be Venjix's next target."

"_Closer than you think, Kaylee,_" Dillon answered.

"_It's right on top of us!"_ Ziggy yelled.

"Rangers, Black and Greens, maintain visuals on the target, Red and Yellow are on the way," Dr. K ordered.

"Hayden, you should go too," Flynn smiled. Hayden tilted her head, confused.

"I'm staying with you," she reminded him.

"Ranger Pink, if that bot succeeds in drilling into the bolt line, Venjix will have won," Dr. K said, spinning around to look at Hayden.

"C'mon guys," Hayden nodded, leading the others out. Flynn smiled at her, letting her know he was going to be fine missing out this one battle.

"Dillon and Ziggy formed the Megazord," Kaylee announced.

"Ranger D-Green, is the monster still drilling?" Dr. K asked Mike, seeing as he was the only one not in a battle.

"_No, it's too busy blasting Dillon and Ziggy with molten hot lava,"_ Mike said completely unfazed.

"_We're here to help!"_ Scott's voice could finally be heard on the battle field, which meant that he and the others were there. As they morphed, Flynn looked up at the tubes holding the Rangers suits. He sighed deeply as Red, Yellow and Pink disappeared.

"They can't sequence the Megazord without me," Flynn reminded the Doctor.

"We know, Flynn," Kaylee smiled gently. "I'm still working on your suit... stupid fourth dimension."

"I have to go out there!" Flynn yelled.

"Your suit won't work without the energy build up!" Dr. K held up his morpher.

"Trust me, Flynn, Dr. K's right. Annoying, but right," Kaylee frowned.

-----Ranger-Blue-----

"She's just a little girl," the women called. "Her name's Penny. She's only five years old!"

Flynn stopped, forcing his father to stop as well. It had taken everything for him to ignore the women's cries for help, but as soon as he heard the girl was just a kid, and a young one at that, he knew he had to do something.

"I'm sorry dad," he whispered to his father before running back to the bus and getting in the driver's seat.

"Flynn, no!" his father yelled, running after him.

"It's just who I am!" Flynn called back, closing the doors and turning the bus around.

He drove through the war zone, passing by the military men who were holding off the Venjix drones. This was the first attack of many. Flynn had no idea that over the next little bit; the walls to Corinth would open up for new civilians. He didn't know that next time it happened, he would be there on the front line, helping the people the same way he was now.

He finally made it to a gathering of people, where he opened the doors, allowing them in. As they piled into the bus, he kept his eyes open for a little girl. As the last person walked on, he heard something. It sounded like a girl screaming. He jumped out into the wastelands to fight off the Venjix drones and picked up the little girl.

As he brought her back in the bus, he slammed the doors shut, cutting off a Grinder at the waist. He scowled in disgust before heading back.

"Are we going to die?" the little girl asked, as if it was nothing.

"Not today, lass," Flynn replied.

-----Ranger-Blue-----

Back in the city, Flynn opened the doors to the bus, letting the people out. When it was all cleared, he picked up the little girl and gave her to her mother.

"Oh, thank you!" she smiled, taking her daughter and running off for safety.

Flynn smiled, proud, before he saw his father.

"Flynn..."

"Flynn McAllistair, right?" a women, close to her forties asked him, stepping past Mr. McAllistair. Flynn recognised her immediately. He was a huge fan. He had read all about her growing up. She was Kaylee Hanson, Operation Overdrive Green Ranger. A superhero.

"Yeah..."

"With the Venjix attacking the world, I've decided to pull out my life's work... well retirement life's work," Kaylee smiled, reaching into the bag she was carrying and pulling out a morpher and a small chip.

"What's this?" Flynn's father frowned, looking at the women.

"I saw what your son did for that woman," Kaylee smiled. "I think I could use someone like that on my team."

Kaylee presented the morpher and the chip to Flynn, smiling.

"Flynn, I want you to be the RPM Series Operator Blue, for the Power Rangers."

Flynn's jaw dropped to the ground as he accepted the morpher. All this time he had dreamed of being a super hero, it was finally coming true. His father tapped him on the back, smiling proud.

"What do ya say, Blue Ranger?" Kaylee smiled.

"Aye," Flynn nodded. "I'll do it."

Unknown to him, in a few month's time, he would be doing the same thing: driving a bus out into the wastelands to save a small girl from peril. He would be a hero, dressed in those multicoloured tights.

"I'm proud of ya, son," Mr. McAllistair smiled, hugging his son. "All these years telling ya that superheroes didn't exist... I was looking at one."

Kaylee grinned as she turned to both men.

"I'm currently auditioning a few candidates for RPM D-Green, Yellow and Pink, but the testing should be completed within a few weeks. Meet me at my house then for your first orders." Kaylee shook Flynn's hand, but the new Ranger was going for the big stuff. He pulled Kaylee into a great, big, bear hug, nearly squeezing the life out of her. For the first time in his life, his father was proud, and it was all thanks to her.

"Thank you so much Miss Hanson..."

"It's Brooks," Kaylee smiled, showing Flynn the ring. "I've gotten married."

"Mom, the shields are going up and someone names Dr. K needs a list of something," a teenage girl called, walking up to Kaylee. Flynn felt his heart soar as he looked down at her. Sure she was a few years younger, but age was but a number, right?

"Hayden, take these papers to your father and tell him to give them to K," Kaylee said, writing Flynn's name down on a list, just under Scott and Marcus Truman. She folded the paper and sealed it in an envelope to give to her daughter.

-----Ranger-Blue-----

"I know it must be frustrating for you, Flynn," Kaylee started, keeping her eyes on the computer screen as she worked hard on repairing Flynn's Ranger suit. "But..."

"_Aye, that's why I'm not watching anymore!"_

"Granddad?" Kaylee frowned, looking up at the intercom, where she heard a voice.

"It's Ranger Blue," Dr. K said, turning to where Flynn was supposed to be standing. Kaylee turned as well and noticed that Flynn was gone.

Kaylee ran to the screen monitoring the battle, looking through every camera to see if she could find Flynn, as Dr. K scolded him from her spot by the main frame.

"This is both reckless and futile, Ranger Blue. You can't even morph without clearing the energy channels."

"Aye, but I was thinking about what you said about clearing the electron polarity," Flynn answered, running down the street, turning around the corner to see the battle going on.

"Flynn?" Hayden frowned, spotting the unmorphed Blue Ranger standing not too far away. Flynn nodded, putting his communicator to his ear.

"I couldn't think of any reason not to re-reverse it during standard morph up," he continued, throwing around a few Grinders, keeping them at bay so he could talk to his two mentors. "The only drawback is that I might be one of Ziggy's explosions! On a gigantic scale."

Flynn saw Tenaya run for the D-Green, Red, Yellow and Pink Rangers, so he jumped in front of her and the Grinders, with his back to them.

"And that might not be such a bad thing in certain situations," he smirked.

"RPM, GET IN GEAR!" he called out, transforming into the Blue Ranger, which moments ago was thought impossible.

Behind him, a giant explosion blew up under Tenaya and the Grinder's feet, destroying the foot soldiers and damaging Tenaya's hardware. The attack bot growled as she turned toe and ran.

Dillon and Ziggy returned from the Megazord battle to see Flynn, powered up and everything. Ziggy jumped excitedly as he greeted his friend, while Dillon stood there.

Flynn put his wrist to his mouth and smirked as he finished.

"At least, that's the way I figured it, in laymensterms."

"_I have just one question for you, Ranger Blue,"_ Dr. K frowned. _"Who taught you to be a mechanic anyways?"_

"That my dear, is another story, for another day," Flynn smiled, powering down. He grabbed his morpher and smiled happily.

Back at the base, Dr. K turned to Kaylee. The blonde mentor smiled as she shrugged.

"Dani learned her mechanic skills from Ronny... maybe with Flynn it's a family thing too."


	13. Ranger DGreen

"Dude, what are you reading?" Scott asked, coming up behind Michael. He looked over the dark green Ranger's shoulder and saw a children's picture book in his hands. There were no words written on the pages, but at the top there were bumps that Mike was tracing with his finger. The pictures were also very simple and seemed to be elevated.

"I bought a book for my sister, I wanna see if it's any good," Mike told the red Ranger. Scott looked at his friend as he rounded the couch and sat down next to him.

"You can read that?"

"I had to learn after the evacuation."

"Why?"

"Because she's..."

"Mike, I hear you!"

A little girl wearing a pair of dark sunglasses let go of her mother's hand and ran for the couch. Mike jumped over it and caught her in his arms, lifting her up in the air as she giggled.

"Elena," he smiled.

Scott looked over as Mike's family walked into the garage. They had been given permission from Kaylee and K to visit their son. He never really went home for the night and didn't see his family much. So they asked to visit him.

Mike held his sister in one arm as his brother came up to him. He high fived the eleven year old and ruffled his hair.

Finally, Tori and Blake came over to him. Tori pulled her son in for a hug.

Karly was under the couch, looking up at Blake, ready to catch her prey. She knew her humans "hated" him, and felt like going in for the kill.

"Die Blake!" she yelled.

Blake heard this and looked around for Kaylee, trying to prepare himself. Suddenly, little Karly jumped onto his leg and grabbed on for dear life.

"You're going down!" Karly screamed, only surprising the Bradley family.

"She can talk?" Tori asked as Blake jumped in pain, trying to shake off the cat.

"She's younger now?" Jason frowned.

"Yeah, long story," Mike laughed, rubbing the back of his neck as he put Elena down. Scott grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

"Dude, what's with the glasses?" he asked.

"Elena's blind."

"Really?" Scott frowned, "Her pictures in Kaylee's book don't make it seem like she was..."

"She wasn't always blind."

-----RPM-----

_Five year old Elena walked with her class to the big kid school, where her brother and cousin were currently waiting in their class to greet the twenty kindergarteners. Seeing as the elementary school and the high school were on the same grounds, the teachers thought it would be a nice idea to pair the grade nine classes with a kindergarten class, the grade tens with first graders, eleven with two, and twelve with three._

_The Bradley girl was looking around the big field in awe. She wished her school had a field that big. All they had were cement floors which hurt your knees when you fell._

_Jason was also in the troupe of kids walking to the high school, but he was getting ready to meet a twelfth grader._

_Tori and Blake were joining the two, acting parent helpers for the day. A lot of kids meant a lot of trouble for the teachers, and they wanted to help out._

_Just as all the kids and teachers reached the grounds of the high school, a missile flew through the air. Everyone looked up at the loud noise, before having to look away and cover their ears as it exploded._

_As another missile flew by, the teachers tried to rush the children inside the school. By now, there were missiles coming from everywhere, and little robotic soldiers were coming out._

"_RUN!" one of the teachers yelled, grabbing the arms of a number of children and running._

_Suddenly, one of the missiles hit the school, exploding the cafeteria and the hallways around it._

_Tori, who was helping with Elena's class, picked up her daughter and tried to cover her as much as possible as she looked at the school._

_She knew her eldest son and Summer were both inside._

_Blake, who was carrying eight year old Jason in his arms, ran over to Tori, pulling her away. Tori screamed, pushing Blake as she looked at the school. Kids were flooding out, coughing from the dust and debris that had flown up into the air and ended up in their lungs. Thankfully, fifteen year old Mike was one of them. He spotted his parents and siblings and ran over to them. Tori was happy her son was alive and in out of the building (but not out of danger), but knew this wasn't the end of the road._

_Summer was still trapped inside._

"_Mommy," Elena asked, looking up, "what's happening?"_

_Mike grabbed his sister in his arms, "The school was playing the news just before it was hit. The Venjix virus has taking control of everything! He's attacking several cities in the world! People everywhere are dying!"_

"_We have to get out of here," Blake told his family. This only made Tori scream._

"_Summer's inside!"_

_Blake looked over at her. He had forgotten Summer was in school. With Samantha and Hayden home sick, it never clicked in his mind._

_Suddenly, the blonde McKnight girl ran out of the school, looking for somewhere to run and hide. Mike was the first to spot her and started calling her name._

_Tori saw this as well and bolted over to where her niece was standing, looking confused, and scared. She grabbed Summer in her arms and pulled her with the rest of the family._

"_Are you okay?" Mike asked his cousin when she was close enough. Summer shook her head, the tears still flowing down her cheeks._

"_No... he's still in there!"_

"_Who?" Blake asked the frantic girl._

"_Her friend," Mike explained._

"_Mommy..." Jason called, grabbing his mother's leg as another, bigger, missile flew through the skies and exploded. Tori picked him up and looked over at Summer._

"_I'm sorry, Sum," Tori said, grabbing Summer's arm, "but we have to go. I'm sure he'll find you."_

"_That's what he said..."_

-----RPM-----

"I don't want to talk about it," Mike told his leader before he was lead away by his family.

"We're going out to lunch," Jason smiled at his older brother, before trying to head butt him in the stomach. Mike smirked, grabbing the little boy and lifting him over his shoulder.

Scott frowned, watching the family go. He had noticed Mike's look sour when he began talking about Elena's blindness and it wasn't out of pity for his little sister, but it was guilt.

He turned around and headed into the main room, where the others were all smiling and playing games. Hayden and Summer were playing a game of air hockey against Kaylee and Christian, while Dustin watched, sometimes throwing in extra pucks to make the game better.

Flynn and Dillon were on the couch, while Ziggy sat in front of them on the ground. They were all watching the football game on the TV.

Dr. K was, as usual, working on the Megazord upgrades.

The red Ranger walked in with a strange look on his face, which only Christian caught.

"Mommy, Scott poo-poo in pants!"

Scott started blushing, "No... I didn't... I uh..."

"Tori and Blake pick Mike up for lunch?" Kaylee asked, scoring a goal against her daughter and niece.

"Yeah..."

"I figured you must have met Elena," Kaylee smirked. "Cute kid, don't you think?"

"She's blind?" Scott frowned.

"Uh, yeah," Kaylee nodded, getting another point for her team. "But be careful about mentioning it to Mike... he doesn't like to talk about it."

"I got that much," Scott frowned. "Why is he so sensitive about that? Surely it wasn't his fault."

"Actually," Summer turned around to face Scott as the game of air hockey ended. "It kinda was."

-----RPM-----

_News about the attack of Venjix traveled pretty quickly, and the survivors already knew where they had to go. Corinth or NewTech city._

_Most survivors would choose Corinth. It had better protection and was much closer to the area than NewTech._

_The Bradleys and Summer were headed for Corinth. It was a long walk through the wastelands surrounding the domed city and they were getting tired._

_On top of that, there was no one else around for miles. The people back home had most likely been killed by the army of robots. Tori, Blake and the kids only managed to get out thanks to years of training on Tori, Blake and Mike's part at the Wind and Thunder Ninja Academies._

"_I'm hungry," Jason complained, stumbling over a rock. His father caught him and lifted him up._

"_I know, buddy," he whispered. "One more day, I promise."_

_Tori reach into the bag she managed to rescue from the house and pulled out some crackers for the kids. They all took some, except Elena._

"_Sweetie, you have to eat something," she whispered to the little girl._

"_I don't feel good," Elena shook her head. Mike picked her up in his arms to carry her. She was still young and wasn't ready for days of walking through a desert, with little food and water. On top of that, there was really no stopping to rest. The air was too dangerous and the six knew that robots could pop up from anywhere if they let their guard down. They had to keep going._

_Elena rested her head on Mike's shoulder, looking back. That's when she spotted them. She started hitting her brother's shoulders, hard, screaming for him to run._

"_BOBOTS!"_

_Blake grabbed Jason in his arms as he and Tori looked around. Summer instantly started backing away from the robots in fear._

_She couldn't quite remember why she didn't like them, because she didn't want to. Her friend had risked his life to save hers, and she still didn't know if he was alive. But when she learned that everyone back home was most likely dead, she figured he probably was too._

_It hurt too much to think about it. She loved him as more than a best friend, but never really got to tell him. He meant everything to her and she didn't want to get out of the school without him._

_But when he told her to run, she did. She left him there._

_She didn't want to remember that, and so, as she and her family walked through the wastelands, she pushed it back until it was all a blur. Her friend's name: gone. What he looked like: gone. Everything about him: gone._

_To protect herself from pain, he was just another person._

_But she knew that it was the robots that did this to her, and for that, she hated them. They were constantly reminding her of the pain she was trying to hide._

_Mike grabbed her arm suddenly as the six began to run away. It was useless to fight, there were too many of them. They needed to find somewhere to hide._

_With Elena in one arm, and Summer's arm in one hand, Mike was struggling to keep his pace going. He couldn't let go of either of them. Elena was too young and sick to outrun the robots, and Summer would freeze up in fear if he let her go._

_Just as he got the hang of putting one foot in front of the other, all while avoiding Summer's feet and supporting Elena's weight in one arm and dragging Summer's with the other, Mike tripped over a rock, bringing the two girls down with him._

_Tori and Blake were in front of the three, but a scream from Jason alerted them of the trouble the other kids were in. As they put Jason down to go help, a robot ran over to the three._

_Summer crawled away until her back hit Blake's legs. He bent down, wrapping his arms around her while Tori continued to run._

_The robot was now close enough to Mike and Elena and held out a blaster. Fearing for his life, Mike put his arms in front of his face, protecting himself._

_He forgot about Elena._

_The robot shot the blaster, and it missed the two, but did hit a puddle of liquid waste, filled with radiation._

_Suddenly, a scream filled the air. Elena had been hit by the liquid._

_Tori jumped over her two kids at that moment, knocking the robot away before picking Elena up in her arms and grabbing Mike, pulling him to his feet. The four ran, meeting up with Blake, Summer and Jason._

"_GO!" Tori yelled as they all escaped the robots. They found debris that acted as a cave and hid inside._

_Elena was screaming, which would alert the robots of their whereabouts. As Tori whipped the liquid away from her face and eyes, she tried to calm the five year old down._

"_Elena, please, I'm right here, you have to calm down," she whispered, pulling Elena close, cradling her head between her chest and her hand. Elena could feel her mother's presence and tried to calm down, but she was scared. She couldn't see anything, even when her eyes were open._

"_Mommy, it hurts," she whispered as a few hiccups escaped._

"_I know..." Tori whispered._

"_The robots are gone," Blake called to the others. "We should go now."_

_Tori nodded, looking over at Jason, Mike and Summer, "He's right. Come on guys. One more day to go, we can make it."_

_The kids got to their feet, following Tori and Blake back into the wastelands. Blake picked up him son while Tori held Elena. Mike and Summer trailed behind._

"_I can't believe I did that," Mike whispered to his cousin. "If I had protected her... she wouldn't have been sprayed."_

"_Be happy she's still alive," Summer whispered. "I don't know about Sam, my mom, or my dad."_

"_I'm sure they're waiting for you in Corinth," Mike smiled. She nodded, thanking Mike for the hope, before she saw him looking over at Elena._

_The little girl was rubbing her eyes, trying to see anything._

-----RPM-----

After lunch, the Bradley family was in the park, saying goodbye. Mike knelt down, holding his sister as he looked at her. She reached out, touching his face and smiling.

"What did you get me?" she asked, already expecting a gift.

"How do you know I got you anything?" Mike asked her, smirking slightly. Elena felt the change in his expression under her little hand and smirked as well.

"I heard there was something in your backpack."

"You heard that?" Mike asked. He pulled his bag off his shoulder and opened it. Elena smiled as she heard the zipper. "Well, I got you a really cool book!"

"Ohh!" Elena giggled as Mike put the book in her hands. She traced the cover of it and smiled. "I can read it all by myself!"

"Yeppers, and the pictures are a little elevated so you can 'see' them," he smiled. Elena jumped in his arms, giving her brother a big hug.

"Thank you," she whispered. Mike kissed her before she pulled away.

"Not fair, why does she get something?" Jason asked. Mike smirked, looking over at his little brother.

"I got you something cooler than that," Mike smiled. He reached into his bag, then pulled out an engine cell. Jason's eyes widened as he grabbed it.

"WHOA!"

"It doesn't work with any of our equipment, so Aunt Kaylee said I could give it to you. I know how much you love us Rangers," Mike smiled.

"Thank you!" Jason smiled, bouncing with his excitement.

Elena and Jason started playing around with their toys as Mike said goodbye to his parents.

"I'm sure you can come over anytime," he told them, giving them their goodbye hugs.

"Same to you," Blake smirked.

"I know," Mike nodded.

"Oh, and Mike," Tori said as she picked up Elena for the walk home. "Be careful out there. And try not to drive Summer and Hayden too far up the wall!"

-----RPM-----

Mike walked back into the garage, then into the main room, where everyone was doing what they would normally do. He smiled at them as he walked by. He wanted to be with them, but he had to be alone.

He retreated to his room and sat down on his bed. He pulled out a picture of him and his siblings on their first day in their house in Corinth and a tear escaped.

He hated seeing his family, because he saw Elena. He loved the girl to bits, and would do anything for her, but seeing her... unable to see was always too much to handle.

Just like how Summer had been afraid of robots, because they reminded her of the pain of losing her friend, Mike was afraid of his sister. Seeing her reminded him of the one time he had ever failed to protect someone. He knew he should be happy Elena was still around, but he got to thinking.

The last thing she saw was chaos, destruction and murder, and because he failed to protect her, it would be the last thing she ever saw. Because of that, Elena had changed. She was still a happy go-lucky girl, but she had lost some of her innocence.

Mike would never forgive himself for that.

Summer knocked on the door before walking in and sitting beside him.

"You did what you could," she whispered, hugging him. "I know it hurts, but no one expected you to be a hero."

"I've been doing it all my life," he told her.

"I know," Summer nodded, "Sam, Hayden and I are always the ones you think need saving."

"She didn't deserve this. I made the mistake... not her! I should be the one who's blind!"

"Mike, now you're being hard on yourself," Summer scolded him. "You can't put the weight of the world on your shoulders and expect to stand on your own. It's too much of a burden, you need help sometimes. Without it, you would fall."

"You don't get it...!" Mike yelled, but Summer cut him off.

"I do get it Mike, I was there too, I'm just as responsible as you are! When we fell, I ran away instead of protecting her!"

"But you were scared..."

"So were you," Summer said. "And your parents are responsible too. Sure, Uncle Blake was carrying Jason, but he still could have made sure we were all okay. He could have ran behind us instead of in front. He could have looked out for us. If we had fallen, and he was behind us, he could help us up and none of this would have happened. I'm sure he knows that, and I'm sure it hurts him too."

"It doesn't show..."

"He's a man, you should know more than me you're not going to let your family know you think you let them down."

Summer looked at the picture in Mike's hands.

"I'm sure your mom feels guilty too," she whispered. "She could have carried Elena instead of you. Then you probably wouldn't have tripped and no one would have gotten hurt. You're not alone Mike."

"It still feels like it's all my fault. I was right beside her. She was counting on me. I'm no hero..."

Summer patted his leg, before putting her head in his lap to rest.

"I know we don't always get along, Mike... and I know I'm always yelling at you when you try to protect me, but... if it makes you feel any better, I think you're a hero."

Mike looked down at her, "You do?"

"You try," Summer smiled. "Sometimes you don't do what's right, but your heart's in the right place. I know you're always looking out for me, my sister and Hayden... and to be honest, I really appreciate it."

"Thanks... but it's not helping. I still feel like... that one failure messed me up. I can't do this..."

"Then would it help you if I told you that right now, I feel totally safe."

"Of course you do," Mike frowned, "You're home."

"I know you're not going to let anything happen to me," Summer smiled.

"Yeah, and neither will Scott, Flynn, Hayden, Ziggy, Aunt K or Dillon... especially Dillon."

"But they are here right now," Summer smiled. "They're all the way downstairs. If something were to happen right now, I wouldn't be scared."

Mike smiled slightly, "Thanks," he told her. "But I know this is all bullshit... you hate when I try to protect you. You always say you can protect yourself."

"I couldn't at school," Summer frowned, "And in the wastelands, you pulled me along to get me to run. You didn't stop Elena from getting hurt, but I think you saved my life."

Mike looked down at Summer once more.

"I love Aunt Tori and Uncle Blake, and I'm totally thankful they waited for me to get out of the school before running off. I'm forever thankful you guys took me with you to Corinth, because I wouldn't have made it here by myself. But I also know, that when the robots attacked, they ran without me. They thought about Elena, Jason and you. Neither one of them tried to pull me along when I froze up. They took off. You remembered thought and even if you had your hands full with Elena, you went after me."

Summer sat up and kissed Mike on the cheek, "I owe you my life, Michael Bradley."

"No, Summer, you don't... I would have done it even if..."

"There," Summer smiled, cutting him off. "You totally sound like a hero. Now I know why you're Elena's favourite Ranger."


	14. Sister Ties

Flynn walked into the garage after visiting his father. He was carrying the groceries with him as he hummed a tune. He was in charge of getting food for the week, and had decided to pick some up for his father as well, which lead to the visit.

He walked by a sleeping Kaylee and smiled as he pulled a blanket over her. As he put the groceries down on the counter, he noticed a small baby blue light shinning in the middle of the kitchen.

"Um, Kaylee," he called, reaching over to the couch to wake his mentor.

"Five more minutes," Kaylee yawned, shaking his hand away.

"Boy, you Brooks girls are all the same," he laughed nervously before shaking Kaylee. "Mrs. Brooks, I think we have a break in problem."

"What?" Kaylee frowned, looking up to see the blue light. She crawled off the couch, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders as she walked towards it. She reached out to touch the light, but felt something zap her and send her across the room.

"What was that?" Ziggy asked, running out of his room, holding a tennis racket. The others Rangers walked out of their rooms slowly, but at the ready for an attack.

"What's that light?" Scott asked, walking down the stairs with the others. When Hayden reached the kitchen, she walked towards the light, reaching out to touch it.

"Hayden, I wouldn't do that, lass," Flynn warned her as he helped Kaylee up.

"N-no... it's okay... I hope," Hayden smiled, opening her hand as one came out from the blue light to grab hers.

"Hayden, be careful!" Kaylee yelled.

"Mom, it's okay," Hayden said, slowing letting go of the hand as an arm followed it out of the light, and suddenly, a body came with it.

Finally, the light faded as a curly haired blonde, with light blue eyes, stood in the kitchen, looking down at Hayden happily.

"I did it!" she cheered. "I totally made it happen!"

"Sammy!" Hayden cheered, jumping into her sister's arms. "But where's Aunt Eva?"

"She's in the spirit world!" Sammy giggled.

"What... was that you?" Kaylee asked, hesitantly walked up to her daughter. Samantha nodded rapidly, holding her sister close. "T-that means..."

"I can travel on my own!" Samantha exclaimed, finishing her mom's sentence as she hugged her. "Mom! I can do it! I passed my training!"

Kaylee burst into tears as her knees buckles as she brought both herself and Sammy to the ground.

"I feel unloved," Sammy pouted playfully. Kaylee laughed, wiping away a few tears as Sammy stood up, then helped her up.

"So... you can do as you please?" Kaylee asked. "Master Guinn's not going to be a bitch about it?"

"Mom, I can live with you, dad, Hayden and Christian!" Samantha smiled.

"And don't forget me," Summer announced, hugging her older cousin.

"Oh right, you're the lazy houseguest that eats food and watches TV," Samantha teased.

"Ha-ha," Summer frowned, moving away so Mike could hug his cousin.

"Hey Sammy Sr.," he smiled. Samantha hugged him back, enjoying finally being able to live with her true family after so many years.

Another light, this time green, shone in the kitchen once more, before Master Engel appeared, smiling happily.

"Sammy, you did it!" Eva giggled, hugging the young girl proudly. "I always knew this day would come!"

"Eva... does this really mean... she can... you know..." Kaylee whispered, wiping away her tears as she greeted her "mother".

"Stay and live with you guys here on earth?" Engel finished. "Um... DUH!"

Kaylee felt her heart soar when she heard she could finally live a normal life with her eldest daughter at her side. She had waited nineteen years for the day Samantha would finally be with her. Nineteen long years she had to live with the pain of not seeing her first daughter every day.

For nineteen years she had to live with the fact that another woman was raising her daughter – her baby – her child she had carried and would have wanted, had she not had the miscarriage. For nineteen years she's had to live with knowing that Samantha was dead to the world; nineteen long years away from her daughter.

She never got to hold baby Samantha. She didn't get to see Samantha take her first steps. She didn't hear her first words. Never had she taken Samantha to the bus stop on her first day of school. Not once did she ever feel her after school hugs, when little Samantha would run off the bus and into her mother's arms, ready to tell her all about her day at school.

Kaylee never got to go to Samantha's eight grade graduation. She didn't get to calm her down on her first day of high school, or help her prepare for her first date. She never had to worry about giving Samantha "the talk", and she never got to watch her beautiful curly-haired blonde, blue eyed baby girl walk up to the stage to accept her high school diploma.

Though Kaylee had missed out on so much of Samantha's life, she was still glad for what she did get.

She got to stand by her daughter's side as they fought against the Dai Shi to save Dustin from his spell. She got to see her daughter smile back at her before she was taken back to the spirit world. She got to spend a week with her daughter when she was pregnant with Hayden. She got to be with her daughter in the spirit world when Master Engel first talked about Sammy obtaining powers to travel freely between the Spirit world and the real world. On occasion, she got to watch Sammy train with her Fox Spirit.

She also got to see Sammy grow up. Not in the same way as every other mother would see their child, but in a different light. And as much as she wished she could have a normal daughter, she knew it was never going to happen with Sammy. So she would settle for this abnormal life. Especially if it meant Sammy would be with her now. That was all that mattered.

Kaylee looked up at Sammy, who was only slightly taller than she was. She couldn't believe her daughter was standing right before her. The beauty who had her father's curly hair, her mother's golden locks and eyes. The baby girl who was trusting like her father, sweet and caring like her mother. The little angel who could lift anyone's spirits when they were down, and who would never give up.

She pulled her daughter into a strong hug, resting Sammy's head on her shoulder, allowing her own head to rest on Samantha's. Tears of joy were leaking from Kaylee's eyes as she held Sammy in her arms. It was a wonderful feeling Kaylee had never felt before. Whenever she would touch Samantha, there was always that empty feeling that would be there, because Samantha was never really... real. Now that she had the power to travel, she was finally real. She was a regular human, just like Kaylee and Hayden.

"You're warm," Kaylee commented, squeezing her daughter.

"You're warm too," Sammy laughed.

"Um... this is totally heart warming and all," Mike started, holding the phone in his hands as he watched the scene. "Honestly, it is... but I've already called my 'rents, and Summer's and I'm pretty sure Uncle Dustin would really want to be here... and I don't have his number."

"Oh, right!" Kaylee said, pulling away from Samantha to grab the phone from Mike. She laughed nervously as she walked to the other room to talk to her husband privately.

Ziggy, who had been feeling uncomfortable since Samantha got here, finally got the courage to walk up to her and poke her.

"I thought you were dead," he said.

"I am... was... am?" Samantha frowned, looking over to where Evangeline was standing.

"Was," Engel smiled. "Congratulations, you are now born."

"Born?" Dillon laughed. "She's older than I am. How can she be born?"

"Um..." Engel paused, taping her chin with her finger. "Maybe born isn't the right word... no... it is..."

"She can't be born," Dillon frowned.

"Hey, if I can be over a thousand years old, then she can be born at nineteen," Engel smirked.

Dillon's frown faded as a look of pure confusion replaced it. Hayden laughed, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"My family is a bit... weird," she giggled.

"Yeah," Mike nodded. "Let's just say we can trace out family tree way too far back for our own good."

"I'm not related by blood," Summer smiled, putting her arms in the arm. "I'm good."

"Oh, you're still a part of this family, Summer," Samantha winked. "I know all about that family bonding ninja thing. Don't know what it's called, but I know all about it."

"Except the name," Hayden laughed. It felt weird being with her sister, knowing her time wasn't limited to how long Master Guinn could hold out the not-be-a-controlling-bitch-about-screwing-up-the-world's-balance.

"Speaking of names... where my name twin?" Samantha frowned, realising Sammy Jr. wasn't with Summer like she normally was. She knew she was in another city, but Mike had only mentioned calling Kira and Conner. He didn't mention Sam, so she wanted to know if her cousin was going to be there or not.

"She's... yeah..." Summer sighed, turning away.

"Ain't she a poet?" Dillon said sarcastically.

"Sum-"

"Don't ask her about it," Hayden whispered. "It's a really long story about sister relationships."

"I can't ask her about Sam, I can't tell her about Dillon, what can I do down here?" Sam frowned.

"Nothing," Mike laughed. "Absolutely nothing. Venjix took over everything from video games to the microwave. We can't make popcorn without him knowing!"

"Oh, I knew that much," Sammy laughed. "Just like I know Conner's going to use his super speed and he's arrive here long before Tori and Blake."

"But they live down the street," Mike frowned, pointing in the direction of his house.

"Yeah, but Kira's finally getting an invite to Corinth. She'll be pushing Conner halfway through the waste..."

Samantha never got to finish her sentence before she was tackled to the ground by a red and yellow streak. She rolled on the floor as she was enveloped in a monster sized hug by her Aunt and Uncle.

"You're really here!" Kira smiled, squeezing the life out of the nineteen year old girl.

"Why wasn't I greeted like this?" Dillon asked, leaning down so only Ziggy could hear him.

"Because if we tackled you, you might kill us," Ziggy explained.

"Kira!" Conner laughed, pulling his wife away. "You're gonna choke her to death before I get a turn."

He almost literally threw his wife off of Sam, before he pulled her into one of his death hugs. Summer knew what Sam was going through, and instinctively reached for her neck. She knew her parents were giving Sam their I-miss-you-so-much-I-can't-believe-you're-finally-right-here-before-me-and-not-dead hugs. Yes, they had one of those. With superhuman children and Conner as their father, they had come close to losing both Sam Jr. and Summer one too many times.

"Mom, dad, I think she needs to breathe," Summer called, laughing slightly at her parents. Unlike Kaylee and Dustin, they didn't get to see Samantha all that often. They saw her once when she was a baby, when she helped stop the Dai Shi, and maybe one or two more times after that. But because Kira and Samantha weren't related by blood, Master Guinn refused to bend the rules for them.

"Nope, she's staying with us forever, and ever!" Kira smiled.

Summer's face turned as red as Scott's shirt when she saw her parents acting like five year old children who were adopting their very first puppy. She turned away from them and walked slowly to her room.

"Hayden's right, Aunt Lily is my real mother. I'm not related to any of them, in any way!" she muttered to herself.

"Summer, that's not nice!" Kira called after her daughter, putting her hands on her hips. She knew she was embarrassing her youngest twin, but she was going to enjoy every minute of it.

"How did you...?" Summer frowned turning around suddenly. "I whispered that!"

"I'm your mother," Kira laughed. "Like it or not, I know everything about you."

"MOM!"

"Like that crush you have on a certain..."

"MOM!"

"Crush?" Conner frowned. "What crush?"

"She crushed a soda can with her foot a few weeks ago," Hayden covered. "She stained our bedroom carpet with it and got grape soda all over the place. It was messy and smelt like shit for a week!"

"Uh, okay," Conner frowned.

Two more blurs sped into the room, one blue and one navy. Kaylee walked in at the same time and giggled as she reached out to push the navy blur off track.

While Tori landed in Sam's arms, giving her niece a hug, Blake only stopped when he landed face first against the fridge.

"GOAL!" Kaylee cheered dancing around in joy. Blake rubbed his nose as he turned to his sister in-law.

"Okay good one," he laughed.

"It's my job," Kaylee smirked. "Now go say hi to your favouritest niece before I kick your ass."

"Mom," Hayden frowned.

"Tied... oh who am I kidding," Kaylee laughed, pulling Hayden into a one armed hug. Hayden rolled her eyes at her mother's craziness. She was used to it.

Over Tori and Blake's shoulder, Sam stuck her tongue out at her baby sister. Hayden retaliated by sticking hers out as well.

Sibling rivalry had begun.

-----Sister-Ties-----

"Where's dad?" Samantha asked, sitting on the couch with her mother and sister, wrapped under a blanket together. It had been hours since Kaylee made the call to her husband, and Sam was starting to get very worried.

"He got lost?" Mike suggested, sitting on the floor in front of his parents, who were on another couch.

"He wouldn't get lost," Kaylee said, defending her husband. "But he might wander..."

"Mom," Hayden laughed, patting her mother's leg. "Have a little faith in dad. He's probably on the can or something."

"I heard that," Dustin called, walking into the garage. In the light, everyone could see the tear stains on his cheeks, and they instantly knew why. He had just been told that his firstborn daughter was finally able to live a life on Earth with him and his family.

He had taken a hard blow when he heard of Kaylee's miscarriage, and he had tried to be strong for her. He didn't show her how much he was hurting, he never could. He took to grieving alone for the past nineteen years.

Samantha stood up as soon as she saw her father and ran across the room, jumping in his arms. Dustin caught her and spun her around, embracing the moment. When he finally set her down, he refused to let go. Samantha didn't seem to have a problem with it. She had waited forever to be in the arms of her father, and feel what her sister had felt.

She felt safe and protected. Sure, she had a father in the spirit world (Master Engel had gotten married to another dead Master, Master Stallion, who had taken on a fatherly role to Sam), but there was no replacing the real deal. Dustin's love for her was pure, and everlasting.

"I missed you, dad," Sammy cried.

"I missed you too, Sammy," Dustin said, resting his head on hers and looking over at his wife and daughter.

Kaylee laughed when she noticed Christian was standing behind Dustin, looking as confused as ever as a strange woman was hugging his father.

"C'mere, buddy," Kaylee called, opening her arms for Christian. He ran over to her and jumped on her lap before she stood up and carried him over to Sammy, so the two new siblings could meet for the first time.

"Christian, this is your big sister," Kaylee smiled. Christian frowned as he looked at Samantha. He thought he only had two sisters, Hayden and Summer. To learned he had a third one was one too many.

He buried his head in his mother's chest, nervously, keeping one eye on Samantha at all times. Kaylee laughed slightly as she bounced him in her arms. Samantha reached out to the little boy, touching his cheek gently before turning to her mother.

"I don't remember him," she frowned. "What did you two do?"

"Ew!" Hayden made a face at her parents as she pulled herself as far away as possible. "Are they still doing that? Aren't they... like... gonna break something at their age?"

Kaylee turned to her daughter, giving the young blonde a devil's stare as she breathed in to keep her cool.

"Sam, take you brother for me, please," she said, handing off Christian to Samantha. The eldest Brooks accepted the little boy, amazed that she had a brother, while Kaylee started marching towards Hayden.

"Break something?" she started, while Hayden jumped off the couch to try and avoid her mother's wrath. "Just how old do you think we are, Miss Hayden Victoria?"

"Fifty!" Hayden smirked. She loved teasing her mother, especially in front of a crowd.

Kaylee growled inwardly before dashing off after her daughter.

"Don't break something, sweetheart!" Dustin called after Kaylee, stealing Hayden's spot on the couch, after taking his son from Sam. He still wasn't totally comfortable with the stranger.

"I'ma kill you later dirt head!" Kaylee's voice echoed from down the hall.

"Dr. K, Kaylee, there's been a breach in the dome," Scott yelled, running down the stairs just after Kaylee and Hayden were out of sight. He didn't hear, nor did he see, the commotion downstairs, so the missing Kaylee came as strange to him. "Where did..."

"Something about sex and breaking something," Summer shrugged, walking over to Dr. K's computer. "I don't know, when it comes to that and anyone fifty or older, I tune out."

"We're not fifty," Kira frowned.

Summer smiled sweetly at her mother, while Dr. K brought up a video of Grinders in the quarry.

"Just the grinders today, Doc?" Dillon smirked, cracking his knuckles as he approached the screen. "I can handle them on my own."

"Like hell you will," Scott walked over to Dillon and patted him on the shoulder slightly. "We're a team. We do this together."

"Well, if it's just Grinders, mind if I tag along?" Samantha asked, looking over to the Red and Black Rangers. "The last real fight I had was against dad. And that wasn't as fun as you would think."

"Yeah..." Dustin coughed, scratching the back of his neck as he felt Tori and Kira's glares burning into the back of his head. "Not something I want to remember."

"What do you not want to remember?" Kaylee asked, walking back into the room with Hayden trailing behind her. They heard the alarm from the kitchen and decided to check it out.

"Uh, Dai Shi..."

"I'm sorry, who?" Kaylee frowned. "Dai Shi doesn't register in my brain."

"Like everything else," Tori muttered playfully.

"YOU DROPPED ME!"

"I will never live that down, will I?" Tori frowned.

"Not until I can remember the first three months of my life," Kaylee smirked.

"Um, mom... almost no one can remember the first three months," Hayden pointed out.

"Yeah, all you really do is poop and sleep," Samantha laughed.

"What if I was no one?" Kaylee frowned. "I could have been no one!"

"Kayls, did you think that sentence through before you blurted it out?" Kira laughed.

"Yes, I did."

"I hate to break this... whatever it is," Dr. K spoke up, reminding everyone in the room that she was still there, and that Venjix was still attacking the city. "The Grinders may be weak and pathetic, but so is this city. I suggested the Rangers go now."

The seven Rangers nodded as they left for their vehicles. Samantha turned to her father, giving him puppy eyes he couldn't resist, not because she was adorable when she tried, but because she was finally here with him... but the adorable thing helped.

"Go, have fun," he smiled, pushing her to the door. Sam cheered as she ran over to the cars. Hayden honked her horn and smiled to her sister.

"Need a ride?"

"I don't know," Sam smirked as she opened the car door and got into the passenger's seat. "Can you drive?"

"I've never been in an accident... except that time I blew up Aunt Ronny's car..."

"Hayden!" Sam laughed.

"It was an accident! The car was begging to go boom!"

-----Sister-Ties-----

"How are they doing, Doc?" Kira asked as she stood behind Dr. K, watching the battle against the Grinders unfold.

"The Rangers aren't having a hard time at all," Dr. K announced, "but that should come as no shock."

"Hayden and Sam seem to be having a good time out there," Tori pointed out, watching as the two sisters fought, unmorphed, as they exchanged playful banter.

"Yeah, and Summer and Mike are at it again," Conner laughed.

"_Mike, You're hogging all the fun!"_

"_It's not my fault you kick like a girl!"_

"_I AM a girl!"_

"_And it's not my fault!"_

Blake and Conner exchanged looks, rolling their eyes as their kids were once again fighting the wrong person.

"Why not send some of that rivalry on the Grinders?" Conner suggested, speaking into the communicators.

"I have two questions," an eighth voice spoke from behind the parents and Dr. K. "My first, why wasn't I called when Sammy came back for good?"

"RONNY!" Kaylee giggled, running over to her friend. Ronny laughed, catching her friend in a hug that nearly knocked her over.

"I think I know who your favourite sisters are," Ronny smiled.

"I was gonna call you... at some point... maybe..."

"Never?"

"I was gonna get to it!"

"Sure..."

"Anyways," Kira laughed, hugging her friend. "What's your next question?"

"RPM," Ronny started. "What does RPM stand for?"

"Racing Performance Machines," Kaylee answered. "But what does...?"

"Racing Performance Machines," Ronny repeated, moving in closer to Kaylee's face. "_Racing_ Performance Machines. _Racing_ Performance _Machines. _Racing_ Machines!_ Machines, cars. Racing Cars... RACE CARS!"

"Oh shit..." Kaylee frowned.

"You know, I think I was placed in the wrong generation," Ronny pondered aloud. "You're trying to tell me that I'm not a Ranger in the team with cars? I have nothing to do with the Racing Performance Machine team that is my life? Seriously, I race stock cars, and not once did the gods think that maybe this was the team I was supposed to be on!"

"You were too old?" Kaylee suggested, moving away.

"Kayl, if I'm old, then you're a freaking cave woman!"

"No, Kira's the cavewoman, she's even older than I am," Kaylee giggled.

Meanwhile, under the couch, Karly was ready to pounce as she watched her prey. All the humans were out there, laughing, while the Ranger humans were fighting the latest monster.

Karly was happy the dead human was back, and there were two reasons for her happiness.

The first, Kaylee, Hayden and Dustin finally had the missing piece back in their lives. Samantha was home for good. Karly knew more than anyone how much it hurt to know Samantha wasn't with them. She was their cat after all. She had seen all the tears and the pain. Her humans would finally be happy now.

The second, the sock human was back, and Karly could get her revenge.

"DIE HUMAN!" she yelled, jumping out at Ronny and landing on her chest, ready to swipe. Ronny was taken by surprise by the cat's presence, the attack, and the fact that it could speak. "Those socks will be mine, foolish human! Your end is near!"


	15. Brother's Keeper

_Author's Note: Alright, so I know I skipped the Doctor K episode, but don't worry, I plan on keeping it. It's just been moved a little down the line._

* * *

"It's too bad that last monster had your memories," Hayden started, watching as Summer scanned Dillon after making sure he was okay. He had fought long and hard against the Sat-Bot, who held all his memories from the past. At first, he had refused to destroy it, hoping he could get his memories back. When he realised he could make new memories, and that he had his friends to help him with his old ones, he had done a lot more than destroy the monster, "Because this would have been a lot funnier if you were actually afraid of check-ups."

Dillon opened his eyes and glared at the small girl.

"Princess, why are you here?" he asked.

"No reason," Hayden shrugged. "I got bored, and, well, watching you getting scanned is pretty funny."

Dillon rolled his eyes and began to sit up, but a look from Kaylee told him that the news he was about to receive was sitting-worthy.

"Ranger Series Black," Dr. K started, never stopping her work on the computer, where Dillon's x-rays and hardware was up on the screen to be examined. "The Sat-Bot's signal that was transmitted into your arm contains an encrypted initiation code."

"Initiation of what?" Summer asked.

"Initiation of the virus that was laying dormant in your Venjix hardware," Dr. K turned from her work, giving Dillon a sad look.

"Explain, please," Kaylee pressed.

"The machinery in Ranger Black has restarted a self-generation process," Dr. K said, in a tone much different from what any of the others were used to. Usually, she would address the Rangers in a cold tone, making it sound as if she was indifferent to anything they had to say. Now, she sounded upset by the news she was giving the three Rangers. "It is growing... and it will keep growing, until it has taken him over entirely."

Summer turned to look down at Dillon, who was already looking up at her. Hayden turned to her mother, chewing on her lower lip as she did.

"So, that means..."

"We have to keep an eye on Dillon," Kaylee explained. "At least until we can figure this thing out."

"What can we do?" Summer asked.

"Right now, nothing," Dr. K said. "Kaylee and I will take care of finding a cure for Ranger Black. You three may continue with your normal lives until told otherwise."

-----RPM-----

Somehow, following orders to living normal lives had pushed Dillon to race Scott to see which of their cars were better.

While the two were battle it out on the beach the other Rangers were standing by Flynn's hummer, with Ziggy tracing a line in the sand to mark the finish.

"Now, Summer, Hayden, Sam, I know you won't understand the finer points of some of these male bonding rituals, but..." Ziggy started.

Summer jumped off the hood of the hummer, along with Hayden as the two got a closer look at the cars in the distance.

"Look, I told you the salt air would thrive Scott's nitrous mixture by at least seven percent," Summer smiled.

"Really," Hayden laughed. "You're rooting for Scott? That's odd..."

"Care to wager that?" Sam smirked to Summer.

"You're on!"

"Let me in on this," Hayden smiled. "I've seen Dillon's engine. It may be old school, but it's really stands a chance against Scott."

Ziggy turned to Flynn and Mike, giving them confused stares.

"Remember my Aunt Ronny?" Mike laughed, patting Ziggy on the back. The L-Green boy nodded. "Well, she was the fun aunt. The girls hung around her a lot!"

As Black and Red sped down the sandy beach, the Rangers cheered for who they thought was going to win.

Just before the finish line, both boys slammed on the breaks and got out of the car. They exchanged looks before walking past the Rangers.

"Um... is this for suspense or something?" Ziggy asked, watching his friends ditch their cars to end the race on foot.

When they crossed the line, they kept going.

"Scott! Pickle! Do you not see the finish line?" Hayden called after them, pointing to the line at her feet. "Called finish for a reason. When you cross it, you _finish!_"

Turning around, the others noticed Tenaya in the distance, slowly making her way towards the others.

"Very entertaining race, but I prefer my battles to have a more permanent outcome," she said, cracking her knuckles.

"I got a marker if you want," Hayden said. "It's a little dried out, but it's still working!"

"Look, I don't care how powerful or deadly you think you are, Miss Tenaya Seven, but there are eight of us, and only one..." Ziggy trailed off for a moment as Grinders walked out from behind the rocky cliff of the beach. "... two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven... well now this isn't fair."

The Grinders charged forward, pulling the Rangers into battle. Dillon went after Tenaya, thinking he could handle her power.

The two were, naturally, evenly matched as they fought along the shore.

Dillon threw a punch, but Tenaya caught it in her hand and grinned as she looked up.

"For a human, you're pretty fast."

"For a robot, you're pretty human," Dillon snapped back.

"Don't _ever_ call me human!" Tenaya yelled, Tenaya threw Dillon back, continuing the battle from earlier.

Summer, Hayden and Sam smirked, watching as the boys handled the Grinders on their own.

"Um, aren't you gonna help?" Mike called to his cousins.

"Yeah, just waiting for you guys to clear the area," Summer laughed. She cleared her throat, and the boys run behind her.

She thrust herself forward, letting out an ear piercing scream, momentarily freezing the Grinders in place as they overloaded.

"I've always hated robots," Summer muttered as Sam and Hayden jumped over her, glowing Blue and Yellow.

"Power of Water!" Sam yelled, bringing a line of water from the ocean, surrounding herself with the liquid.

"Power of Earth!" Hayden called, bringing up the sand and dirt from the beach. The two sisters smiled at each other as Hayden took Sam's hand, mixing their powers together.

"Mudpies," Hayden giggled as they're murky water sprayed the grinders.

"Well, I guess that's one way to destroy them," Flynn laughed.

The Grinders lay on the ground, sparking and twitching while the Rangers smiled.

Dillon landed in front of them the boys helped him up while the girls looked around for Tenaya.

"She zwopped," Hayden frowned, seeing nothing but sea and shore.

Seeing as the coast was clear, both Dillon and Scott turned to each other, grinning.

"I had you," they both said. Dillon rolled his eyes at the red Ranger, while Scott playfully shoved him. As the Rangers walked back to the car, they failed to notice the red blinking light on the back of Dillon's neck.

When the black Ranger sat in the car, his eyes momentarily flashed red.

-----RPM-----

"Pass the popcorn," Summer whispered to her aunt and cousins as all the women, including Dr. K, were curled up on the couch for a movie night. All five of them were dressed in their pyjamas. On top of that, Hayden, Summer and Sam had stuffed toys to cuddle up with, Kaylee had farting monkey and Ducky (both still alive and well), and Dr. K had her fuzzy animal slippers.

Before the movie began, Dr. K was just analysing a few details from the battle on the beach; therefore a picture of both Scott and Dillon was paused on the TV. Summer smiled at it, while Dr. K noticed.

"I understand your dilemma," she said, causing Summer to frown. She pointed to herself, to make sure she was the one being addressed. Dr. K nodded and continued, "You find Ranger Series Red attractive, because he represents the guy who can give you solid security, the boy next door. He's trustworthy, responsible, the kind you would take home to mother... or in this case Aunt."

"Present!" Kaylee laughed.

"At the same time, you're hopelessly drawn to the excitement and danger of Ranger Series Black," Dr. K kept her rant going, but as soon as she mentioned Dillon, Summer's expression changed from a joking one, to a more serious face, "the tortured and mysterious bad boy who you think you can save."

"I don't think you..." Summer started, but Dr. K cut her off, causing the other three girls to giggle.

"Comparing the raw data on a cuteness scale is also difficult: one scoring a solid nine, but the other registering the cuteness scale maximum of a ten."

Summer turned her head to Dr. K as he fist _accidentally_ hit Hayden in the back of the head, "Which one do you think is a ten?"

"Why?" Dr. K asked, giving the yellow Ranger a smug look. "Which one do you think is a ten?"

"Sum, face it," Sam laughed. "If Dr. K can tell which one you're crushing on, then you've made it pretty obvious."

"I have not!" Summer responded, only to realise she had, in some confusing manner, admitted to liking at least one of both boys mentioned.

"Of course..." Dr. K started once more, her eyes rolling up into her forehead as she thought. "You looking at pictures of Ranger Black and Red could merely be a gateway for thoughts of another Ranger you have your eyes set one. Rolling out your cousin means there are only two left. Ranger Blue and L-Green. Ranger Blue has that foreign appeal most women are drawn too, but at the same time, Ranger L-Green could provide you with a lifetime of laughs."

Hayden's amused smirk fell when Dr. K mentioned Flynn, but all the focus was on Summer at the moment, so no one noticed.

With her mouth full of popcorn, Kaylee raised her hand, "Don't forget, Summer and Michael aren't actually related. It wouldn't be _that_ disguising to consider their feelings."

"Kaylee brings up a good point," Dr. K smirked. "You've know Ranger D-Green since you were in diapers, and have grown up together. He knows all about you, and you could start off much farther in the relationship. You also already know each other's family, quirks, ups and downs, qualities, weaknesses... the relationship could be much easier than normal..."

"Can we just stop?" Summer frowned.

"Aw, does Summer not like being teased?" Kaylee laughed, pulling her niece back onto the couch and wrapping her arms around her.

"Not particularly," Summer breathed.

"At least your dad is in another city," Hayden muttered, grabbing the bowl of popcorn. "I try to date and he goes all 'what are you intentions with my daughter?' on the boy!"

"He's just being a dad," Kaylee laughed.

The conversation as interrupted by the alarm, and an automated voice telling the girls, and Scott, Flynn, Ziggy, Dustin and Mike, who were running downstairs, that the shields were dropping.

Kaylee ran to the monitors.

"Someone is manually overriding the shield codes," Kaylee frowned.

The colonel appeared on a pop up.

"Mrs. Brooks... nice duckies..." the colonel started, looking down at Kaylee's pyjamas.

"Thank you!" Kaylee giggled.

The colonel shook his head slowly, "The shield are being shut down from inside your lair," he informed them.

Dustin ran to the lair, opening the door as a handful of fog escaped the room. He ran in, followed by the Rangers.

There, by the computers, stood Dillon, ripping out every wires possible to disarm and lower the city shields.

"Dillon?" Summer frowned, getting his attention. The brooding Ranger turned to her. Summer could see his eyes were blank, with no expression to them.

"What are you doing?" Flynn asked.

"Can't you see? He doesn't know what he's doing."

"I do," Dustin frowned. "He's opening the gates! Whether he's aware of it or not..."

"Don't have to tell me twice, dude," Mike ran, grabbing Dillon's shoulder.

"That's uncle dude," Dustin corrected him.

As soon as Mike's hand touched Dillon's shoulder, the Black Ranger swung his arm around, nearly hitting the green Ranger, who ducked just in time.

Flynn jumped into the fight, but was pushed away by Dillon.

Summer ran up to the boy and grabbed his arm, but he flipped her on her back and put his foot on her chest to hold her down.

"Mike! Zap him!" Hayden ordered, grabbing his from behind.

"I can't if you guys keep getting in the way!" Mike frowned.

Ziggy was quickly thrown to the side, right by Flynn who was getting up. The blue Ranger ran for Dillon, but as soon as he got too close, Dillon's foot kicked up, hitting him between the legs.

"Ooh," the boys all winced, stopping the battle for a moment as Flynn went down.

"Dude, out of line!" Dustin called from the sidelines with Dr. K, Kaylee and Sam.

"Dada? Me play Dillon," Christian informed his father as he ran past the adults. He was unaware that the Dillon in the room was a little more, aggressive than the last time they wrestled.

"Christian, no!" Dustin yelled, reaching to grab the boy's arm, but the two year old was already too far away.

Dillon spotted the boy and pulled a blaster from out of his pocket. He aimed it for Christian's head. The little boy froze in fear when he finally realised the danger he was in.

"Dillon!" Summer yelled, jumping in front of Dillon, grabbing his arm with the blaster. He grabbed her and spun her around, twisting her arm behind her back as he aimed the blaster to her head.

Dillon didn't say a word as the others stood there.

"Okay... Pickle... slow down," Hayden said slowly, approaching the black ranger with caution as different ideas of Zwop played in her head. She knew her sister had adopted Zwop, Zwip and Zwoom, so she must have gotten at least one, if not something new. "Remember, Summer can die if you pull that trigger... you don't wanna kill sunshine."

Dillon's eye twitched when he heard the nickname, and he looked down at Summer, loosening his grip on the blaster.

"Dillon, don't do it," Summer whispered to him.

Everyone watched as Dillon very slowly released his grip. Hayden had her eyes screwed shut, however, as she muttered something under her breath.

Suddenly, Dillon's eyes flashed red one again, as Hayden's entire body flashed pink. Dillon was back to his destructive ways, and he pulled the trigger on the gun.

_**ZWOOP!**_

"Summer!" Kaylee yelled, ignoring the pink cloud of smoke that appeared with the _Zwoop_ noise as she ran for Dillon, kicking him away from her niece.

Dillon was unfazed that he had just shot the first person to ever care for him. He walked over to the centre computers and began pulling wires, as Dr. K scanned him.

"This radical level of mind control must be from a remote flash device... scanning commenced," Dr. K informed whoever was listening, waving the wand over Dillon's body.

Dillon turned to the doctor and brought his hand down on the wand, snapping it in two.

"Scanning interrupted," Dr. K sighed. Dillon pushed her down, where Ziggy jumped to catch her.

"Summer?" Kaylee called, holding her niece in her arms as she looked at the spot on Summer's head that had been hit.

"Yeah?" someone answered from behind her. Kaylee turned, spotting Hayden, who was answering a call to Summer. She looked down at the figure in her arms. There, on Summer's head, where the deep gash used to be, was nothing.

Summer's eyes finally opened as the blonde smiled at Kaylee, "Hey mom."

"Mom? Where you hit in the head?" Mike asked as he was flipped by Dillon.

"Um..." Sam frowned, as she joined the battle, seeing as the brainwashed Black android just shot her cousin with a blaster. "Yeah... she was."

Ziggy tackled Dillon, doing no harm whatsoever as his tackles turned into a hug. Dillon's rampage stopped momentarily.

"Check it out!" Ziggy smiled, pulling away from Dillon. "Our friendship is so meaningful that his deep feelings for me are overriding the program and making it impossible for him to..."

Ziggy was cut off when Dillon punched him in the stomach, sending him flying back into Hayden's arms. He looked up at the pink Ranger.

"Or... not..."

"What the hell is going on?" Hayden asked. "Was I not just shot a second ago?"

Scott got to his feet, grabbing Dillon from behind and held him away from the computers. Dillon merely had to back into a wall to get the Red Ranger to let go.

"No... I was shot," Summer answered Hayden, standing up and brushing herself off.

As Dillon pulled away from Scott, the Red Ranger saw something on the back of his neck.

"Guys! His neck!" he called.

"All mine," Samantha smiled, jumping kicking a shot on Dillon's neck, hitting only the small device that was brainwashing him.

"Mine!" Christian called, going after the circular object and grabbing it. Dustin picked up his son, taking the device from his hand and giving it to Kaylee.

"Restoring shields," Dr. K called from the computers as she repaired them and the shields.

Dillon dropped to the ground as Hayden ran over to him.

"Dillon... Dillon are you okay?"

"Not who I was expecting, but okay..." Dillon muttered through the pain.

"Not... but it's me... Summer," Hayden frowned.

Dillon was helped up by Mike and Flynn, who carried him to a chair and strapped him in.

"Are these to protect you guys from me?" Dillon asked, looking down at the thick metal bars holding him to the table. "Or me from her."

Dillon, with one finger, pointed to Hayden.

"Because I think something's not right... up there," Dillon's finger turned and pointed to his head.

"Hey, I'm taller now!" Summer giggled as she turned around to face the others. She and Hayden spotted each other and screamed.

"I had that same reaction when I zwopped places with Lily," Kaylee remarked as she walked over to the girls.

She touched Hayden's shoulder, "Summer?"

The pink Ranger nodded, never taking her eyes off herself, or rather, her own body.

Kaylee touched Summer's arm, "Hayden?"

The yellow Ranger nodded, looking up to her mentor, "What happened?"

"I was just going to ask the same thing," Dillon spoke.

"I have an answer for Ranger Black," Dr. K frowned. "Not for you, ranger Yellow."

"Ranger Pink... I mean Hayden!"

"I think I do," Kaylee giggled. "You _Zwooped!"_

"Zwooped?" Dustin frowned. "Another one for the 'Z' book?"

"Remember when I was pregnant with Hayden?" Kaylee asked her husband, pointing to Hayden, then realising her mistake and pointing to Summer... who was actually Hayden in Summer's body.

"Not another story," Summer (Hayden) groaned.

"Lalalala!" Christian yelled, covering his ears.

"Your turn," Hayden (Summer) smirked to her cousin, crossing her arms.

"Hey, your body still the one being picked on," Summer (Hayden) laughed.

"Shut up."

"Hayden and Summer," Kaylee started, not even bothering to point, "switched bodies... just like Lily and I did way back when I was pregnant."

"Crazy mom said what?" Samantha frowned, poking her sister and her cousin, not knowing which was which.

"You switched bodies when you were pregnant?" Summer (Hayden) giggled.

"Hey, I wouldn't be laughing," Kaylee smirked. "For about a day, you were in Aunt Lily's stomach."

"Huh?" Summer (Hayden) frowned.

"I finally figured out how it happened," Kaylee giggled. "Hayden's had _Zwooping_ powers all along! She did it to me and Lils, and now, she did it to herself and Summer!"

"Effectively saving Summer's life by endangering her own," Dr. K reminded the mother.

"How did she save Summer... or Hayden... or... how did Summer save... how did Hayden save... Hayden? Summer? Who saved who?" Flynn asked.

"I think," Ziggy started. "Hayden switched places with... Or... who has the powers? Hayden Summer Hayden... or... wait, no that didn't make sense... which one is Summer...?"

"I'm Summer," Hayden raised her hand.

"No, lass, you're Hayden," Flynn gently reminded her.

"No... no... I think that is Summer... or Sam?" Mike frowned.

"I'm right here," Sam groaned.

"No... Sammy not you Sammy!"

"There are more Sammies?" Ziggy groaned.

"Are they both Sammy?" Flynn asked.

"No... One is Hayden... I think... wait..." Mike frowned.

"Oh lord," Kaylee groaned, hitting her head on Dustin's shoulder.

"I think Summer... or wait... are you Summer?" Ziggy asked Summer.

"No, I'm Hayden," Summer (Hayden) breathed.

"Okay, I got this!" Ziggy smiled. "Hayden is in Summer's body and Hayden is... somewhere."

"Right here," Summer (Hayden) called.

"But where do the Sammies come from?" Flynn asked.

"One of them is Sammy!" Mike frowned. "But which."

"I'm right here you idiot!" Samantha yelled to him.

"I told you, it's not you Sammy!" Mike snapped back.

"Why would Sammy be here?" Hayden (Summer) asked. "She hates us, remember?"

"Exactly why she would pull something like this," Mike answered.

"Like what? Summer and I switched bodies! End of story!" Summer (Hayden) groaned.

"Oh... is that what happened?" Ziggy frowned.

"But... what about the healing thing?" Flynn asked.

"Hayden can heal," Kaylee started. "If she was in Summer's body, she could heal Summer, and in this instant, save her life."

"Sorry about that Sunshine," Dillon smirked from the table, looking at Summer.

"Thanks Pickle," Summer (Hayden) answered. Dillon realised his mistake and turned to Hayden, who was trying to hold back a laugh.

"How do we reverse it?" Scott asked.

"I dunno," Kaylee frowned.

"Why don't I remember you switching places with Lily?" Dustin asked.

"We went to bug Kira and Conner with it. Neither wanted to sleep with other men and we didn't want someone else sleeping with our men."

"Cute," Dustin frowned.

"Not to sound rude... but can we fix this?" Hayden (Summer) coughed, drawing attention back to the problem.

"Last time I had Lily, as me, talk to you and ask nicely," Kaylee smirked.

"_Did you try asking it?" Conner asked simply. "I'm sure it wouldn't mind having its mommy back again."_

"_Asking it?" Lily laughed. "You mean asking the hunk of junk in my stomach, that doesn't know a word of English, to change us back?"_

"_Hey, that's my baby you're talking about!" Kaylee frowned._

"_Well, did you try it?" Conner smirked._

_Lily looked down at her stomach and groaned._

"_If this doesn't work, I'm totally going to __**ZWOP**__ inside you and explodify you," she said before slapping her hand over her mouth. "Oh, this had better work, I'm starting to sound like her!"_

"_What about what's happening to me!" Kaylee asked. "I'm you... that... disgusting! It's repulsive! It's... oh... wait... imagine the pranks I can pull... then Lily would take the blame! Muha..."_

_Conner slammed his hand over Kaylee's mouth and looked at Lily._

"_Please hurry," he said._

_Lily cradled her stomach and spoke softly to the H.I.M inside._

"_Hey, sweetie, why don't you change me and your mommy back to normal? This game's not funny anymore..."_

"Did it work?" Scott asked.

"Yep," Kaylee nodded. She walked over to Summer, cupping her cheek as she spoke gently. "Hayden, sweetie, can you change back for mommy?"

Hayden, as Summer, pulled away from the affection, wishing she were elsewhere.

_**ZWOOP!**_

"YES! It worked!" Hayden, back in her own body, cheered.

"I would take offense to you zwooping away when I touch you," Kaylee pouted, her hand still on Summer's cheek.

"Uh, Aunt Kaylee," Summer said nervously, pointing to the hand. Kaylee laughed, pinching Summer's cheeks.

"Aw, and I love you too, Summer," she cooed.

"Uh, guys," Dillon called, reminding everyone of the other problem in the room.

Summer turned to Dr. K as she touched Dillon's restraints, "Doctor, is this really necessary?"

"Yeah, it was that mind chip that that was doing it, not him," Ziggy added, taking the chip from Kaylee.

"I'm afraid Ranger Black's situation isn't something mommy can fix," Dr. K frowned. "If you look at these readouts for Series Black..."

"For the love of Oden's beard, woman... would you just call him Dillon?" Flynn asked, sidetracking the group once more.

"Is there a reason you won't call us by our names?" Mike asked.

"There's a reason for everything," Dr. K sighed. "Back to topic, when the remote bug was activated, it downloaded an acceleration upgrade into the viral hardware already growing inside Ranger Series Black."

"Acceleration upgrade?" Summer frowned.

"He's got a virus?" the others asked, shocked at the news. This was the first they heard of it, and for it to be brought up, only moments after he attacked them, was huge news.

"The Venjix hardware inside him is now taking over his biological being at a rate of fifty times greater than it was before," Dr. K explained, answering both questions in one.

"How long do I have, doc?" Dillon asked. "Before I change into a machine completely?"

"There's no telling at what point the infection will cause you to lose control of your own actions," Dr. K said.

"How do we stop it?" Scott asked.

"We don't," Kaylee frowned. "K and I searched endlessly for a cure... we came up with nothing."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Summer asked.

"I'm telling you now," Kaylee sighed.

"Can't I heal him?" Hayden asked, holding up her hand.

"Ranger Pink, you can heal his biological side not his mechanical, infected, side," Dr. K explained to the girl.

"But, we'll find a way," Kaylee promised the team.

"It'll take a while to find your way... how long after that until I'm cured?" Dillon asked.

"I don't know," Kaylee frowned.

"Until then, we keep an eye on Ranger Operator Series Black," Dr. K stated before Summer marched up to her.

"Dillon," she said, taking the key to the chair from the doctor. "His name is Dillon."

Summer turned to the chair, unlocking the restraints as all the other girls exchanged knowing glances.

"I guess that answers the ten we were talking about earlier," Samantha teased.

"Ten?" Ziggy frowned. "What's ten?"

"It's nothing," Summer whispered.

-----RPM-----

Dillon was carefully making his way to his car, hoping no one would see him and stop him from leaving. Unfortunately, as soon as he sat down in his seat, he heard Mike clear his throat.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

"If I stay any longer, I might be more than just brainwashed," Dillon said. "I don't wanna hurt any of you."

"I kinda figured you would say that," Mike sighed. "But you keep forgetting; we're the Power Rangers. We take risks everyday for this city, and the people we love."

"How touching," Dillon frowned. "But I don't feel the same way."

"Not me," Mike smirked. "Summer."

"What does Summer have to do with this?" Dillon asked.

"Almost everything," Mike told him. "She cares for you... you can't just leave because you're scared."

"I don't get scared," Dillon growled.

"You don't do much, do you robo-boy?" Mike teased. "You don't sleep, you don't love... you don't get scared... some would say you don't care..."

"Some think right."

"Alright, if you really don't care, then leave," Mike started. "Drive your car to the barricades and get lost... but know that when you do leave, Summer will be crushed... hurt even... by you."

Dillon frowned, pressing on the gas pedal, but the car wasn't moving.

"Shut up, or I will drive," Dillon threatened.

"You're not going anywhere," Mike smirked, holding up his arm and showing Dillon he had been cuffed. Dillon followed the chain and saw his arm was attached to the other end.

"I don't care if I break your arm off," Dillon growled.

"But you care about Summer," Mike smiled.

"Shut up," Dillon yelled.

"Face it, you have feelings for her, you just don't know what they are, or when they happened," Mike said. "That's why every time you hear her voice, you perk up, just a little bit, or every time you hear her cries, you go running to her... you like her and you don't wanna hurt her!"

"SHUT UP!"

Dillon drove off at high speed, before suddenly slamming on the breaks, before the chain was taut.

"I hate you..." he growled, climbing out the window of the car and walking over to Mike.

"I know," Mike smirked, turning to Ziggy, Scott and Flynn as they walked out from their hiding spot.

"Where's the key?" Dillon asked.

"You're not going to run, are you?" Mike frowned.

"Apparently I can't hurt Summer," Dillon smirked.

"Ziggy, where's the key?" Mike called to the other Green.

"I... uh... I kinda swallowed it during my charity magic show last month, remember?" Ziggy stammered. "All the balloons and the cake and the bunnies... cute bunnies..."

"Where's the spare?" Mike asked.

Ziggy reached to his back pocket, until he felt a little hand stealing the key.

"Shiny," Christian giggled, running away from the boys.

"No... wait, buddy!" Mike called running after the boy, but as soon as he reached the end of the chain, he fell back. Christian turned to laugh at him.

"Mike boom!" he giggled.

"Christian, come give Flynn the keys," Flynn gently called to the boy. Christian shook his head, still giggling as he reached for his pants. "No... no, don't put it there."

"There you are," Hayden smiled, picking up her brother before he dropped the key. "Bath time!"

Christian didn't want his sister to steal his shiny new key, so he put it in his mouth to hide it from her. Hayden say him do so and frowned.

"Spit," she told him, putting her hand under his mouth. Christian swallowed the key, then spit in her hand. "Great..."

"No," Dillon frowned, pulling on the handcuff.

"What did he swallow?" Hayden asked the boys.

"The keys," Mike groaned from his spot on the floor.

"You mean... for that?" Hayden pointed to the handcuffs. Mike and Dillon nodded, while Hayden burst out laughing. "Oh, this will be funny!"

Sam and Summer walked into the room to see Mike and Dillon chained to each other.

"Aw, how cute," Sam teased. "I always knew you were perfect for each other."

"I will kill you," Mike threatened as he stood up, dusting off his pants.

"Been there, done that," Sam waved it off. "It's a little old."

-----RPM-----

_Wait for it, wait for it..._ Mike thought as he watched Dillon finish preparing his sandwich. As soon as the Black Ranger put it to his mouth, Mike pulled on the cuff, effectively making Dillon miss, "You need a little help there, Dill?"

"I'm fine," Dillon frowned. One again, he put the sandwich to his mouth, but Mike pulled it away.

"Are you sure?" Mike asked.

Later, Mike was working on his dirt bike, tuning it up for when he and his dad raced that weekend. He reached for the toolbox, but it was sitting too far away, and Mike couldn't go any farther because of the handcuff.

"Dill, could you get up for just a second?" he asked.

"Of course I can," Dillon smiled. Mike nodded to him and turned back to the tool box, reaching for it, but coming short. He looked over at Dillon, who was still sitting on the workbench.

"Will you get up?"

"Nope," Dillon shook his head, laughing.

When it came time to shower, Mike was enjoying every moment of it. He stuck his head out from behind the curtain and smiled.

"Soap?"

"Nope," Dillon frowned.

"What?"

Dillon's foot kicked the toilet handle, causing it to flush.

"AHH!" Mike yelled, jumping out of the shower and running down the hall, where Flynn was sitting down with a fruit smoothie he had just made. The D-Green Ranger snatched it before Flynn could get one sip, and poured it all over his body to cool down after the hot water had burned him.

"Um, mate?" Flynn said, covering his eyes and turning away from Mike.

"AH!" Hayden yelled, entering the room and nearly dropping the plate of food she was holding.

"What?" Mike asked, only to look down and notice that he had no clothes. "SHIT!"

"Cover up next time, dude," Dustin laughed, tossing his nephew a towel.

Mike was as red as could be, and Dillon laughed.

"You realise that all that time you had a naked man chained to your wrist," Mike pointed out, securing the towel around his waist.

"You realise that naked man was you," Dillon grinned.

"I think I'm gonna go," Hayden frowned, turning away from the scene, her face almost as red as Mike's. "I have to burn this set of eyes... again."

"You should be used to it by now, Hay!" Mike called after her. "You flush the toilet on me like... three times a month!"

"Yeah, but you take the towel with you!" Hayden yelled back.

-----RPM-----

Mike was sitting on his bike, while Dillon was in his car, both were quietly listening to music while the others slept.

"Why did you do it?" Dillon asked, turning to Mike.

"Do what?" Mike frowned.

"This," Dillon lifted the handcuff.

"I don't know," Mike laughed. "I guess I'm a saint."

"Nobody's a saint," Dillon told him. "Nobody."

"Then, I guess it's because I care," Mike smiled.

"You care?" Dillon laughed. "About me?"

"No," Mike frowned. "About my cousins."

"You care about your cousins?" Dillon repeated.

"I don't care if you leave and destroy yourself," Mike explained. "What you do in your spare time is up to you."

"Then why keep me here?"

"Because, I can't watch you leave."

"I thought you didn't care if I destroyed myself," Dillon smirked.

"I don't... but you make Summer happy... for the first time since..." Mike trailed off, his voice becoming gentler.

"Since?" Dillon pressed.

"Since the Venjix."

"We've all been bummed since the Venjix," Dillon told him.

"You don't know the story, do you?" Mike asked. "We've all lost something when Venjix took over..."

"Like what?" Dillon asked.

"Scott lost his brother and Flynn lost his mother," Mike started. "Ziggy doesn't seem to have a family, and he doesn't talk about them... so you can only guess..."

"I know," Dillon frowned.

"Aunt Kaylee and Uncle Dustin lost almost everyone they cared about," Mike said. "When the Venjix attacked, and the world was divided into two domed cities... half my family was forced to Newtech... including Aunt Kira and Uncle Conner."

"So?" Dillon asked. "At least they're still alive."

"Kaylee and Kira have been glued to the hip since 2004," Mike explained. "I know Aunt Kira's taking the separation hard, and so is Aunt Kaylee... even if she's not showing it, why do you think she's so protective of Summer?"

"And Dustin? What did he lose?"

"I told you, Conner," Mike said. "They were best friends, and now, they live in two different worlds, without much communication. It's pretty damn hard."

"I'm guessing Princess lost something too?"

"A home, her family, stability... Summer."

"We're not doing that mind switch thing with the Sam, Angel, Sunshine, Princess thing, are we?" Dillon frowned.

"When Venjix attacked, Summer was caught in the middle of it... she was about to be killed when her best friend jumped in..."

-----RPM-----

_As he rounded the corner, his black sneakers squealing against the tiles, his heart nearly stopped. She was there, back against the last row of lockers before a dead-end, eyes wide and blonde locks frayed at the edges. He'd hoped she'd gotten out safely with her cousin…but it didn't look like it. Part of him told him she'd stayed and looked for him, cared for his safety more than hers like always…_

_Surrounding the girl were more than a handful of the robots, and they were advancing much faster than he was comfortable with. "Shit…Summer…," he whispered. Thinking only of her safety, he gripped the pipe he'd been using to fight them off until his knuckles turned white and took a few cautious steps forward._

_She saw him, but he sent her a pleading look, willing her not to react. They hadn't sensed him yet, and he wanted to keep it that way. He was almost upon them when one lashed out at her, just catching her arm as she pulled away._

_She screamed—and sent five of seven robots sprawling, knocked aside by yellow soundwaves. Leaping into action—quite literally—he slammed one in the head with his elbow, and jammed the pipe through the final robot's chest. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out of the mix. "Come on!"_

_But they only made it around the next two corners before they were surrounded again._

"_Shit…I left the pipe in the other one's head," he groaned, chastising himself. He felt her small hand squeeze his, and looked down._

"_Dillon…there's too many of them…," she said worriedly._

"_I know, Sunshine, I know," he whispered, fumbling with his phone with the other hand. He'd dialed Mike's number. "Just give me a second to—"_

_But the robots wouldn't allow him that. The nearest one leapt at her, thick mechanical arm holding a sharp pipe. Swiftly, he spun her around, covering her petite frame with his—and taking the blow in his right shoulder._

_Hissing against the pain, he pushed her to her feet and away, towards the opening they'd created in their fall. The hallway reached towards the exit door where Mike was now standing, calling for them._

"_Go," he told her, but she shook her head, eyes watering when she saw the blood seeping through his black jacket. "Summer, __go__. I'll make sure they don't follow. I'll come and find you when I get out... I promise"_

_He pulled the pipe out and stood, glancing over his shoulder. "Sunshine, __please__."_

"_No, you're injured, I can't just—"_

"_GO!" he barked, and she ran off. Suddenly, he screamed in pain and she turned to see him fall._

-----RPM-----

"Why do I remember this?" Dillon asked, turning to Mike. "How do I remember this... that monster had my memories."

"I don't know," Mike smirked.

"So, how did Sunshine's loss affect the Princess?"

"Summer and Hayden used to be close..." Mike explained. "After her friend's death, talking to Summer's been like walking on eggshells. You have to be careful about what you say and how you say it. Summer's been a bit of a bummer lately, and it's taking all Hayden's got for her to stay so upbeat. She has to make sure Summer's not always thinking about him."

"What if he's thinking about her?" Dillon asked.

"I'm sure he is," Mike smiled, turning to Dillon.

Dillon turned to the boy in green and smiled, "You know, you're kinda talking in riddles."

"Well, I want the reunion to happen on its own," Mike stood up, grabbing the chain in his hand. With one shift Ninja trick, the chain was broken.

"The reunion?" Dillon asked.

"Between Summer and her friend; I know he's out there looking for her."

-----RPM-----

"I got it!" Kaylee cheered, zooming through all the rooms as she held a chip in her hand. "I got it, I got it, I got it!"

"What did you get?" Hayden laughed, seeing her mother bouncing up and down for no reason.

"The cure... well, the slow me down cure!" Kaylee exclaimed, running to the lab, and the others rushed behind her.

Kaylee put the chip in a computer and began typing away.

"I can't guarantee this will be flawless," she told the others. "Dr. K refused to help me..."

"There's no way you can override the Venjix code," Dr. K repeated to the forty year old.

"But it's going to work, I promise."

She pushed the start button, and suddenly, Dillon dropped to the ground, holding his head in pain. Summer rushed over to him.

"Dillon, are you okay?" she asked. Dillon stood up, and punched her away.

"Ah, shit!" Hayden frowned, as she and the others tried to restrain him.

Dr. K turned to Kaylee, with a knowing smirk, "I told you."

"Will you help?" Kaylee snapped, getting angry with the doctor for the first time. "I'm sure we can figure out how to get past the code."

"You can't get past the code until you have the base code," Dr. K explained. "Only then will your little chip work."

"How do we get the base code?" Kaylee frowned.

Dillon threw all the rangers down and began walking towards Kaylee. The former green Ranger glared at him, fighting him off.

"Only the person who programmed the Venjix virus would know it," Flynn explained, holding his ribs and crawling to Hayden to see if she was okay.

Dillon grabbed Kaylee by the throat, and pushed her against the wall, holding her inches over the ground.

Suddenly, just before Kaylee's vision turned black, he let go, holding his head in pain as he dropped to his knees. Kaylee dropped beside him, holding her chest with on hand, and putting her other on his back.

"You okay?" she asked.

Hayden ran to the control, "Someone entered that base code thingy."

"Who?" Flynn frowned.

"I did," Dr. K said.

"You? How did you know it?" Scott asked.

"I created the Venjix," Dr. K said, lowering her head in shame.


	16. Embodied

"I told you Ziggy, left on Grand was the fastest way to downtown," Scott said as he and the other Rangers were piloting the Megazord.

"No fair, I didn't know we qualified for the carpool lane!" Ziggy frowned. Mike sighed, patting his fellow Green Ranger on the back.

"Of course we qualify," Flynn laughed, "There's five of us, isn't there?"

"Plus, Ziggy, we driving around in a giant, twenty story high, robotic, super-weapon," Summer explained.

"She's right," Dillon smiled, "we qualify for any lane we want."

The monster before the Rangers grew tired of waiting and spray grease all over the road under the Megazord's feet. The Megazord was slipping, trying to remain on its feet while the monster struck with its blade."

"It's locking its primary blaster on us," Summer told the others as the monster's arm was lifted towards the Rangers. The monster shot, hitting the Zords with a cloud of pink smoke.

"MINE!" Hayden yelled, just before the Zords broke apart.

"Is it too late to call in sick?" Ziggy joked.

"_I'm looking at your vitals right now, Ranger series L-Green, and I see no signs of any serious physical issues."_

"_Except bad breath and body odour."_

"Thanks guys," Ziggy groaned.

"We're all going to have serious physical issues if you don't do something here!" Mike cried, his dolphin Zord standing in line with the others, facing the enemy.

"_Switch to the smaller, more maneuvrable duel Megazord formations."_

The two original Zords were formed. The High Octane grabbed it super sabre and stuck the monster, while the Valvemax clawed at the enemy.

With a roar, the monster fell.

"This was too easy," Hayden sighed, resting her head on the dashboard. "I'm bored. Hey, Dr. K, when is that new Megazord going to be ready?"

"Soon enough, Ranger Pink."

-----RPM-----

"C'mon, humour me," Summer smirked as she and Dillon sat at a small table to talk. Ever since Dr. K revealed to the team that she had been the one to create Venjix, they had all given her the cold shoulder. A few days had gone by already and no one had discussed it yet.

Everyone had lost something in the attack. Obviously Dillon had lost his identity. That much was already known. Although he was starting to remember something from before he woke up in the desert, he wasn't sure what they meant, or why he remembered them (such as what happened to Summer and her friend when they were trapped in the school).

Ziggy had lost his entire family. They had all passed away before the evacuation, but he still had their possessions. In the evacuations, all those items were gone.

Flynn's mother passed away in the evacuation. She never made it out of Scotland.

Summer lost her best friend and all memories of him, and knew there was no way to get them back. No one really got the chance to meet her friend because she never took him home and barely spoke about him to anyone but Samantha. She knew she had fallen in love with him and was a little nervous about what others would think. Until Samantha forgave her, Summer would never remember.

Scott lost his brother, who had been attacked by an army of Grinders.

Mike hadn't lost anything, but his sister had because of him. Summer had told him that he wasn't to blame, and he believed her to an extent, but there would always be that little piece of him that knew he could have done something.

Hayden was the only one whose life had gotten better. Her family was alive and well (aside from Elena's blindness) and her sister had come back from the dead to live with her. But even with that, Mike and Summer knew she was still hurting.

Kaylee wasn't the mother she used to be. Before the end of the world, Hayden had her mother's undivided attention. Now, Hayden was one of four kids in the Brooks household, and one of nine at the Ranger base. At home, Summer, Samantha and Christian were Kaylee's children, and she had to make sure she spend time with them, as well as Hayden. There was less time Kaylee could spend with Hayden, one on one.

At the Ranger base, all the Rangers had, in some way, become Kaylee's family, especially after seeing the photo album. In a demented way, they were all her kids.

Scott never really knew his mother, so Kaylee had taken on that role for him. It wasn't a strong one, but both knew that was the kind of bond they had.

Flynn had also lost his mother and saw one in Kaylee. But, because both the red and Blue Rangers were boys and still had their fathers, they didn't need to go to her so much for advice or talks, but it was nice knowing she was there, ready to help.

Mike was Kaylee's nephew and when he wasn't with his mother, Kaylee was the best he had. He knew she loved him unconditionally.

Summer was living without parents, and had adopted Kaylee and Dustin as temporary parents. Occasionally, she would accidently refer to them as "mom", or "dad".

Ziggy was Kaylee's special Ranger, and she saw a lot in him that he didn't really see in himself. He was thankful for the vote of confidence and knew that if he needed help, she was there for him.

Dillon was a little harder. He knew Kaylee trusted him and wanted to help, but he wasn't ready to admit that she was like a mom to him.

With so many kids, and only 24 hours in a day, Hayden had very little time with her mother like she used too.

All that suffering the Rangers were through, it was all because of Dr. K.

"Forget it, Summer, it's never going to work," Dillon frowned.

"How do you know?" Summer asked, "Have you ever been hypnotized?"

"And how would I know that? I have amnesia, remember?"

"Exactly, so just give it a shot and relax," Summer smirked.

"Relax?" Dillon frowned. "If I'm going to relax, can we, maybe, try somewhere a little more private?"

Dillon turned to the rest of the team, who were all watching him and Summer talk, making Dillon very nervous.

"No, come on!" Ziggy smirked, holding a bag of popcorn. "I wanted to be here when she made you act like a chicken!"

Dr. K came over to the Rangers, a little hesitantly. Outside of battles, they always refused conversation with her.

"Ranger Black, we need to find answers about your past, and we need to find them soon," she stated. "You have a computer virus spreading Venjix hardware through your body as we speak."

"Yes, a computer virus you created and released," Dillon growled. "Dr. K, you ended the world."

"Well I'm not denying the factual accuracy in that statement; I do not see how it has any relevance now regarding your decision to co-operate with the proposed regression hypnotherapy in an effort to discover your past."

"We just don't like you," Dillon smirked.

Kaylee stepped into the room and pulled Dr. K away. She too was upset at the reveal, but decided it was best if she didn't verbally attack the doctor or shun her out of the group. Dr. K was still very important to defeating Venjix. But that didn't mean she still wasn't going to be sour towards her.

"Dr. K, I think it's best if you leave mentoring this team up to me," she said.

"I think it would be for the best too. Now I will no longer have to worry about training the Rangers, or Ranger L-Green's endless and idiotic questions about where I sleep, what I used to do for fun, and if I like him."

Dr. K turned her back on the team and walked out. She would not be treated with so much disrespect, when all she wanted to do was go outside. She whipped away a tear from her eyes before locking herself in her lab and returning to her K screen. From now on, until everything was fixed between her and the others, this would be the only way she would communicate.

Now that Dr. K was gone, the mood was a bit more relaxed. Summer pulled out Dillon's watch from her pocket and opened it up. The music began to play.

"Dillon, what are you thinking about right now?" she asked. She couldn't help but wonder how she knew that tune.

"I think you're going to be sorry you stole my watch," Dillon growled, looking up at Summer.

"Don't think about the music, just feel it," Summer smiled slightly.

"I'm sorry Summer, but this is never going to..."

Dillon trailed off suddenly, and the room was quiet.

"Um... Dillon?" Mike asked, waving his hand in front of Dillon's face as the boy's expression became distant. He obviously wasn't home.

"Summer?" Dillon called from his subconscious. Summer smiled. The hypnotherapy was working.

"I'm here Dillon," Summer called out to him.

Ziggy leaned in over Summer and smirked, "I'm here too, buddy. Now, are we going to do that chicken thing soon?"

Summer growled as she looked up at Ziggy, then smacked the back of his head.

Summer left Dillon to wander his mind on his own, waiting for him to find an answer.

"I'm with someone," Dillon spoke softly, still lost in his memories. "I have to protect her."

"Where are you, do you recognise it?" Summer asked.

"I'm in a school," Dillon frowned. He hated this. That damn memory of Summer and her friend was coming up again. He closed his eyes and growled. When he opened it again, there was something there.

A sign. It was a street sign. It read: Kenmore.

Before he could look any further into this new memory he was pulled out.

"Welcome back," Summer smirked.

"Do you remember who you are now?" Ziggy asked.

"No," Dillon frowned. "But I think I know where I'm from. There was a big sign, plain as day! One word: Kenmore."

"What about having to protect someone?" Summer asked. "What happened to that?"

"It wasn't my memory," Dillon looked over at Mike, a little angry he had told him of Summer' past. Now he was seeing what she couldn't remember, and it was driving him crazy that he couldn't tell her. Mike wanted her to have her happy ending.

"I don't remember any towns, cities or counties under that name," Hayden sighed.

"Downtown Omega city," Kaylee smirked.

"The place that was evacuated after the first Venjix attack?" Mike asked.

"So, how do I get there?" Dillon asked.

"No, no way," Kaylee shook her head. "It's way too far outside the dome."

"Kaylee, I need answers," Dillon frowned. "Dr. K said, I need to remember who I am!"

Dillon started for his car, but Kaylee grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"If you're going to go, then wait half an hour," she smirked. "Ronny's got the perfect vehicle to get you to and from Kenmore safely."

-----RPM-----

"ROADTRIP!" Ziggy grinned as he and the Rangers packed up a large bus. It was one of Kaylee's old tour buses that she, Ronny and Dani had turned into a Ranger vehicle.

Flynn looked at the Name on the side of the bus.

"Googoonger?" he asked, trying to pronounce it.

"Actually, it's pronounced Go-Onger," Kaylee laughed. "It stand for Ground Outdoor Operational Network General purpose Exploration Rover. It's a tour bus turned into an attack vehicle."

Flynn shrugged, picking up the equipment needed for the travel and opening the door to put it in. That's when he spotted a young girl inside. She looked at him, eyes wide with a mouthful of chips.

"Um... hello there?" he frowned, before she bolted past him. He dropped what he was holding and ran after her, along with Kaylee and the Rangers.

"Get back here!" Dillon yelled, jumping on the girl and pinning her down. The others caught up to them and looked down.

She was around Hayden's age, with long red hair and brown eyes. Mike, Summer, Hayden and Kaylee recognised her immediately.

"Daniela," they all groaned.

Kaylee grabbed the red head's arm and pulled her up roughly.

"What the hell are you doing all the way out here?" she asked.

Ronny, the doc and Dani lived out in NewTech. They had moved out not long after they arrived in Corinth after the evacuation. To see Dani here, without any sign of Ronny or Doc was a surprise.

"I came in the bus," Dani shrugged, as if it was nothing.

"Why?" Kaylee asked. The bus had been driven here by a regular driver. So unless Ronny or doc knew she was leaving with it, Kaylee was sure the young speedster had run away.

"I hate my mom."

Dani looked at the Rangers and saw they were getting ready for something. She giggled and ran over to them, "Oh, are you going on a road trip!"

"Yeah!" Ziggy nodded enthusiastically, until he received Mike's elbow in his stomach.

"Sweet, I'm driving this thing then!" Dani smirked.

"No," Kaylee shook her head. "The Rangers are going on their mission. You are staying here so we can call your parents and let them know where you are!"

"Please!" Dani begged her aunt. "Mom never lets me drive anything! She says it's too dangerous! That's why I wanted to come here! You'll let me drive! Oh, I can be the driver for this mission."

Flynn scoffed, "No way, lass, this bad boy's all mine to drive."

Daniela glared at the blue Ranger, "I helped build it. I know everything about this vehicule."

She turned to her Aunt, knowing Kaylee was going to say no. She needed a way to get Kaylee to let her go on the mission.

"And, I know where the emergency button is located. I know where the life raft is, in case we end up in a lake or an ocean or something. I know how to shoot any blasters and how to activate the shields," she smirked. "I could teach these guys, but I'm pretty sure you need to be going, and I'm pretty sure there isn't enough time to go over everything..."

"Okay... okay," Kaylee sighed, giving in. You can go along with them, as long as you promise to stay in the bus at all times, and never get involved in any battles."

"Will do!" Daniela saluted. "I promise."

"And as soon as you get home you and I are going to have a talk with your mother," Kaylee added. "I'm sure she's worried sick about you."

-----RPM-----

Daniela was looking around the Ranger base while the Rangers packed up the bus. She was curious about where her cousins were living, and how the whole Ranger HQ thing worked.

That's when she stumbled upon the laboratory. Dr. K wasn't inside at the moment, because she was in the kitchen making herself dinner.

Daniela looked around the room in awe, before her eyes landed on two morphers. One was trimmed in gold, while the other was trimmed in silver.

She reached out to grab one, when she heard someone clear their throat. She turned around and spotted Greg.

"Greg?" she asked in total shock. Greg was Rose and Mack's only son. She had no idea he was working with the Rangers. The many times she and her family had gone to visit her aunt and Uncle, he was always away at some School for smart people. It was called Alphabet Soup High... if she remembered right. "What are you doing here? Did you run away from your fancy High school?"

"Dani, I don't go to a high School!" Greg frowned.

"Yeah," Dani nodded, "it was a boarding school for gifted children... your parents told mine that two men approached them when you were little and invited you to join. You haven't been home since."

"Look, I'll tell you about it later..."

"Are you a part of Project Ranger? Ooh, are you the secret eighth Ranger?" Dani giggled.

"Unfortunately, I'm the secret ninth Ranger," Greg frowned. "After Dr. K and I lost two of our friends in the evacuation, we had to find two new people to wear the Gold and Silver suits."

"Ohh, is Dr. K the other one?" Dani asked. "That would be weird..."

"No, she's not the other one," Greg rubbed his temples. He and Dani never really got along before he was taking to Alphabet Soup and he now remembered why. She was an annoying, hyperactive and frankly wasn't the brightest bulb on the family Christmas tree. She was his opposite. "We don't have a silver, until now."

"You want me to wear silver... wait, can I get gold? Gold means you won, and I always win!" Dani giggled.

"No, gold is mine," Greg growled.

"Aw, why?"

"Because I choose it first!"

"So, unchoose it!"

"It's bonded with my DNA."

"Well... unbond it!"

Greg thrust the silver morpher into Dani's hands, "Just take it," he growled. "Now I gotta hide. If Kaylee figures out I'm here..."

"Why are you hiding?" Dani frowned.

"Dr. K needs a friend. I'm the only one she really trusts. And If I go out there, who knows what'll happen to our friendship."

"Are you scared to lose her?" Dani smirked.

"Yes, not get out of here before I'm spotted!"

"How does me leaving..."

"Take the morpher, hide it from Kaylee, and go!"

"Okay, okay," Dani stuffed her morpher away and left the room.

Now she remembered why she didn't like Greg. He was always such a smart ass, my way or the highway, I'm better than you kinda person. Totally the opposite of who she was.

-----RPM-----

"_Sensors show that you guys are leaving the city limits,"_ Kaylee told the Rangers, and Dani over the communicator inside the bus. Flynn looked down at the screen and laughed.

"Well, it's either that or we're really lost already."

The shields were lowered just as the bus left the dome.

"_Alright, so depending on atmospheric radiation levels, we will now be losing all communications,"_ Kaylee informed the teens. _"I will try to get them up and working a little bit at a time, but when I'm not here, you guys are on your own."_

"Yes, we know," Scott sighed, "you told us."

"_You also only have enough energy for one Megazord formation with the seven of you, or two between the core five and Dillon and Ziggy."_

_Three if you count whatever bad boy comes with the morpher Greg gave me_, Dani thought, smirking to herself as one hand dropped off the wheel to reach into her sweater pocket. She traced the morpher resting inside.

"So, use it wisely?" Summer asked her Aunt.

"_If Dr. K get the core thingy up and running before you come back, we may be able to control two more Zords but..."_

Communication was cut off, leaving the Rangers hanging on what Kaylee was going to say.

-----RPM-----

In the lab, Dr. K came back with two sandwiches, like normal. Greg stepped out when he was sure the door was closed and locked, and took one.

"Thanks," he smiled.

Dr. K smiled back, then noticed one of the morphers were missing.

"Where is it?" she growled.

"I gave it to someone I think is capable of handling the power," Greg said to her, putting an arm around her shoulder. He knew how much it bugged her that she didn't have a say in Ranger L-Green, and he was sure she wasn't happy the choice for Silver wasn't up to her. "Trust me, K. I got this."

"I hope you're right about this, Greg," K sighed.

"Let's just get to work on the Tiger and Falcon Zords. Daniela will be able to summons hers in the wastes, but the core will allow us to call the Falcon to help the Rangers if they get into trouble."

"It's a flying chicken," Dr. K joked, poking Greg in the ribs.

"It is not!" Greg frowned. "It's a falcon! A cool, gold falcon!"

"How will we know when the Rangers are in danger?" Dr. K asked, switching the subject.

"If Dani calls for her Zord, we power up the Flux core and send mine out."

"Are you sure you can use this thing to pilot the Chicken without being in the _cock_pit?" Dr. K asked.

"Ha-ha," Greg frowned, "yes, I'm totally sure. You just work on installing it."

-----RPM-----

"Alright, just, everyone relax," Scott said calmly when he noticed the Rangers were getting a little jumpy now that they were on their own. "We're almost at Omega City. We're just going to go there, get what we need and come back. It'll be easy."

"I'm totally relaxed," Ziggy said, trying to pull open a bag of chips. "Why wouldn't I be?"

The bag exploded suddenly, spraying the chips all over Hayden who screamed and jumped off her seat. She landed on the ground, on Summer's foot. The Yellow Ranger whimpered in pain, instinctively bringing herself down to nurse her foot. But she went too fast and hit her head on the table. She was taken by surprise by this and screamed.

Summer's scream turned into her Ptera scream, and the teens covered their ears. The bus swerved slightly as Dani was taken by surprise, but she quickly recovered.

When the screaming stopped, everyone turned to Ziggy and glared.

"Oops..."

Suddenly, the bus came to a sudden stop.

"Dani, I thought you were a good driver!" Hayden frowned.

"Um, yeah, but there's kinda a robot in my way... and he looks, a little... angry."

Scott stood up, pulling out his morpher.

"READY?"

"RPM, GET IN GEAR!"

The Rangers jumped out of the bus while Daniela stayed put. She wasn't going to reveal her secret until the Rangers were in trouble.

"Alright, so who are you?" Hayden asked the monster.

"Just call me the mother of all upgrades," the attack bot called, charging towards the Rangers.

Dani squeaked, covering her eyes with her hands as she watched the Rangers get their asses handed to them by the attack bot. They were being thrown around endlessly, before Grinders appeared from nowhere.

Scott, Dillon, Flynn, Ziggy, Summer and Mike fought the Grinders while Hayden went for big and ugly.

"I fight pink?" the attack bot smirked, dodging attacks from Hayden. "Are you sure you don't want a stronger colour to take me on?"

"You underestimate me," Hayden smirked. The attack bot grabbed her arm and spun it until he heard a crack and a scream. He smiled, throwing Hayden down.

To his surprise, the Ranger's arm healed instantly, and she was ready for battle.

"I remember you," the attack bot smirked. "My Grinders told me about you and your healing abilities... you would serve well on my team."

"Your Grinders?" Hayden frowned, "You... you're... Venjix?"

Venjix raised his hand, shooting several blasts at Hayden. The Pink Ranger's suit's energy dropped dramatically, and she powered down, giving Venjix a firsthand look at what her powers could do. If he could get his hands on that, he would be unstoppable.

Hayden picked herself off the ground and growled.

"You can't use my power," she frowned, "Robot's down have blood."

"What if I turn you into one?" Venjix asked, smirked as he advanced on her. "I did the same to your Ranger Black. I could turn you into an attack bot who could never be destroyed. You would be the greatest warrior!"

"You had Dillon?" Hayden looked over her shoulder at Dillon, who was fighting his share of Grinders. "Wait, stupid question. He has your hardware inside him."

"He was a failed experiment. But you... you could work."

Venjix grabbed Hayden and threw her into a rock. Hayden's head connected with the hard surface and her world faded to black.

Venjix smirked, stepping in front of Hayden too keep her out of the Ranger's view, before blasting them. They all jumped in the air, caught in the explosion. Their suits powered down as they landed in a heap on the ground.

"That ended almost too quickly," he laughed, then, with the snap of his fingers, a giant flying robot appeared.

"Everyone fall back!" Scott ordered. "Move!"

The Ranger listened, running back into the bus. When the door was shut, Dani stepped on the gas.

While Dani drove away from the danger, all while trying to activate the shields, Scott did a head count.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven..." he said, pointing to each Ranger and Dani. Seven was good. They were a team of seven.

"Wait a minute," he frowned, "We're seven plus Dani..."

He recounted the heads, thankful the Rangers were too wiped to move around, making head count much easier.

"... five, six, seven..."

It didn't add up. Someone was missing. He now decided to count by colour and heads.

"Red, Blue, Yellow, Black, L-Green, D-Green and Red Head... wait... who's missing?"

He counted by colour again, still unable to figure it out. He decided to associate each colour to the head in the room.

"Red," he pointed to himself, "Blue, Pink..."

He looked around for Hayden.

"Pink..." he said again. Hayden didn't perk up. He couldn't find her. "Pink? Ranger Pink?"

Still nothing, and now the others were aware he was calling for Hayden, and there was no answer.

"Hayden?" he asked. He ran to the back where the bed was, thinking she would be smart and sleep comfortably.

She wasn't there either.

He ran back out to the others with a desperate look on his face.

"We forgot Hayden."

"What?" all the Rangers asked, looking up at their fearless leader. Dani growled, turning the bus into a tunnel and stopping it.

"We're safe in here," she told the team. "I've powered up the shields in case of an attack. Figure out what happened to her now, before we lose fuel!"

Was she with us in the explosion?" Ziggy asked, looking at Summer and Mike. They always seemed to keep Hayden in the corner of their eye in battles. If anyone would know where she was, it would be them.

"No, last I saw she was fighting Venjix," Summer looked at Mike. He nodded.

"FUCK!" Dillon growled. "The attack bot probably has her!"

"We have to go out there," Flynn said, going for the door. Daniela jumped up and stopped him.

"You can't," she frowned, stepping in front of the door. "You guys have no power. You're going to kill yourself long before you can rescue Hayden."

"Well, we're not just going to sit here while the lass in in the hands of that monster and his toy!"

"_Rangers... Rangers are... there?"_

The communication system was back up, but barely as Kaylee's words were occasionally cut off by static, but the transmission was more than enough.

"Aunt Kaylee, we're here," Summer nodded, walking over to the screen.

"_I've done... research, and it turns out that Dillon's memories.... fake."_

"What?" Dillon asked.

"_I've been over information on your implants and ... how much ... control your memories, and... implanted Kenmore into your head. It's not..."_

"Who planted them?" Dillon asked.

"_Venjix. It's a part of your .... He wanted you to remember Kenmore."_

"So this isn't real?"

"_I'm afraid ...."_

"Why would Venjix want us to come out here then?" Ziggy asked.

"Well, you are in his territory, giving him the advantage," Dani shrugged.

Suddenly, the bus began to shake as it was hit by an attack from the giant robotic attack weapon.

"This is all great news, Kaylee," Flynn frowned, "but I think, correct me if I'm wrong here, I think we have much bigger problems."

"Aunt K, that attack bot took off with Hayden," Mike explained. Kaylee's eyes widened as she began to worry. That was when Dr. appeared on a split screen. The background showed she was still in her lab.

"_Ranger, energy readings for your suits are down. I'm afraid even with the fuel to power your Megazord for the formation; you won't be able to handle the power. Daniela, you know what to do."_

Daniela nodded, finally getting the chance to pull her morpher out of her pocket, "Right."

Now Kaylee was in total shock. Her daughter was missing and now Daniela had a morpher... and Dr. K knew about it.

Suddenly, Greg appeared on screen.

Could you die of shock?

"_Daniela, to morph you have to yell out RPM, get in gear. Your morpher will know how to do the rest."_

"_Greg?"_ Kaylee asked, looking at the screen before her. She hadn't seen Greg in so long... how did he know about Project Ranger. Better yet, how did he get into the base.

"_It's a long story Kaylee, and I promise I'll tell you in time. Right now, I'm going to join Daniela in battle. She can't handle this on her own."_

"_Are you taking your chicken?" _Dr. K laughed.

Kaylee clutched her heart and the Rangers stood with their jaws open. This was all too much for them to take in. Dr. K laughing, Greg appearing from nowhere, Daniela having a morpher.

"Okay, am I the only one who has no idea what is going on?" Ziggy asked, looking around. "I mean, seriously, I'm totally lost? Was this planned? Are we on some kind of Punked TV show. You know, like, Ranger edition?"

"_Daniela, don't do anything stupid before I arrive. Dr. K, shut up,_" Greg frowned, before the transmission was gone.

Mike turned to his cousin and frowned, trying to rip the morpher out of her hand before she did something stupid. Daniela pulled away, keeping her grip on her morpher.

"Greg did say something about DNA bonding..." she smirked. "RPM, GET IN GEAR!"

All the Rangers sighed as Dani morphed into the RPM silver Ranger. She giggled, looking down.

"I'm a Power Ranger!"

The bus shook once more, this time with a lot more force. Daniela ran to the control and frowned.

"Shields are down. If we stay in here, that thing is going to get all of us," she told the others.

"No, you heard that... kid's orders... you wait here for him," Scott frowned.

The bus shook once more and the Ranger fells. Daniela hopped over them and ran for the door.

"How do you summon a Zord?" she asked.

As the door swung open, her Tiger Megazord appeared. She smiled behind her helmet, much like her mother did when she first saw the Zord she would be driving, and hopped in.

"It flies?" Daniela asked as she piloted the Zord through the air, distracting the Venjix Zord.

"I told you to wait for me," Greg smirked as his helicopter chicken/falcon Zord appeared in the skies beside Daniela.

"Yeah, but I don't like you," Daniela laughed.

Upon seeing the two Zords, Venjix smirked. This was turning out to be a great day. He had a Ranger in his grasp, and he was so close to destroying the others.

"Dr. K, remember that flux core?" Greg asked.

"_The one that you no longer need because you're now in battle?"_

"Yeah, what if I used it for this?" Greg reached over, plugging the core into his controls. Suddenly, the tiger and the chicken/falcon Zords combined to make one large Megazord.

Daniela giggled as she popped up inside the Megazord, beside Greg.

"Can I shoot the blasters?" she asked when she saw Venjix was about to retreat.

"No, I want to," Greg frowned. "It's my Megazord, I get to shoot the blasters?"

"Aw, but they come out of my Zord!"

"Yes, but I made it... with Dr. K and Kaylee's help."

"So, unmake it!"

"I can't unmake it, we have to destroy that thing!"

"Fine," Daniela crossed her arms over her chest as Greg prepared the blasters. The Megazord raised it's arm.

"Ready for this, Dani?" Greg asked.

"Whatever," Dani shrugged.

"FIRE!"

One, big blast came out from the arm of the Megazord, destroying the Zord Venjix had made and eliminating the threat.

Venjix watched from the ground, frowning as his plan was shot down by the Rangers once again. But at least this time he wasn't leaving empty handed.

-----RPM-----

Kaylee was waiting eagerly by the door for the Rangers to return. She had so many questions that needed answering, and a daughter she wanted desperately to see come home. She was very scared Venjix still had her and all her nightmares would come true.

The doors opened up and Kaylee did a headcount, adding Dani and Greg into the total numbers.

She was still one short.

She pushed her tears back as she walked up to the Rangers; more specifically, Greg.

Dr. K walked out of her lab and smiled at the gold Ranger.

"Explain, now," she barked. "Why are you here?"

"You know Alphabet High? The ones mentioned in the letters that were sent to my mom and dad?" Greg said. "It was actually a military think tank that Dr. K and I were a part of. When Venjix invaded, it was destroyed and we both made it out. I've been working behind the scenes ever since on all the Ranger tech."

"Why did you never show yourself?" Kaylee asked a little gently. He was her nephew after all.

"Aside from Dr. K, I don't have any friends. And quite frankly, my people skills suck."

"Greg's been working with me this whole time," Dr. K added. "He's been the brains, behind the brains. Everything I've done, I've run by him."

"Alright," Kaylee nodded as she turned to Dani. "Explain."

Dani pointed to Greg and backed away, "He gave it to me!"

Greg spoke up once more, "I needed a Ranger silver, and as much as Dani and I don't get along, her speed, determination and passion for battle are what were required. I chose her."

"Okay... now, the question that needs the straightest fucking answer any of you can come up with... where is my daughter?"

-----RPM-----

Hayden was dragged down into her prison cell by Grinders. When they looked the doors, she curled into a corner.

She knew what was coming. She had gotten a good enough look at this place. It was a work camp. All the humans trapped inside would work endless hours creating Grinders for Venjix.

She also knew that wasn't what she was here for. Come morning, someone was going to come for her. He was going to take her to the lap and strap her down. Then she would be turned into a robot.

"Hey, what are you..."

"... in for?"

Hayden looked up. There was no one else in her cell. She must have been hearing things.

"Hey kid we're..."

"...over here."

Hayden looked around before spotting a little hole in the wall. She walked over to it and peeked inside. On the other side of the wall were two other people. A boy and a girl, maybe her cousins' age or older... most likely older. They were smiling and waving at her.

"I'm going to die," Hayden whispered.


	17. Hayden's Rescue Part I

Hayden kicked and screamed as she was dragged to her doom, but she knew there was no escape. She cried out desperately, but knew no one would hear her.

As she was strapped down to the table, she did the only thing she could think of. She called out to her sister.

"SAMMY!"

-----RPM-----

Sammy was pulled roughly from her sleep as she heard her sister call out her name. It was strange. Back in the spirit world, she could always get Hayden's prayers, but she thought that was just because she was dead. To be alive and still have that power was shocking, but not unwelcomed.

Sammy sat up and went into a deep meditation, hoping she could connect with her sister.

Summer had been pulled out of her sleep at the same time as Sammy and looked over at the older girl curiously.

"Sam-"

"Shh," Sam hissed, returning to meditation. Summer did as she was told and remained quiet.

Daniela woke up as well and frowned, looking over at Sammy. She knew her cousin had returned from the spirit world after Summer had explained it to her. Kaylee hadn't been up to it. She was still scared for Hayden, and was in no condition to do anything. For her safety and for the good of the team, Dustin had taken her home.

Unfortunately, that meant the team had no mentor. No one was ready to listen to Dr. K and she was still going to hide in her lab. Greg seemed to be taking her side in the whole deal. And even so, no one was going to think of him as a mentor.

Hayden's disappearance meant the team was falling apart.

Dustin decided to step up to the plate. Kaylee couldn't do it, Dr. K wouldn't be accepted and the Rangers needed someone to coach them. He was going to mentor the team and rescue his daughter.

"I know where she is," Samantha smiled, jumping out of bed, leading the two girls to the boys' bedroom.

-----RPM-----

Samantha looked over at the Rangers, Dr. K and her father who were all very grumpy that they had been woken up in the middle of the night.

"Hayden called me," Samantha started.

"What, with the complimentary cell phone every prisoner gets?" Flynn asked.

"With her mind," Samantha corrected. "I may be human now, but I'm still an Angel."

"You'll have to explain," Dustin frowned.

"Dad, ever since Hayden and I first met, she's been... praying to me," Samantha explained. "Whenever she was in trouble, she would ask me for help. Little did she know I got every message."

"Are you saying you can still do it?" Greg asked, "Hear her prayers?"

"I don't know how, but it's like we're linked."

"That's freaky," Ziggy frowned.

"Would you rather I not?" Samantha asked. Ziggy shook his head, allowing her to continue. "Anyways, when she called me, I listened I saw what Venjix was doing to her."

Samantha pushed a button on her remote and a scan of Hayden popped up beside a scan of Dillon. Underneath there was a DNA sample.

"Hayden told me that Venjix plans on creating her into a Dillon 2.0. He wants to keep her human invincibility so she can't be destroyed, but up her senses, just like with Dillon. If he succeeds, I'm afraid Hayden's going to be unstoppable."

"So, the lass is going to fight us?" Flynn asked.

"With Venjix implants, she could destroy us."

"I don't think she'll do that," Flynn frowned, "I mean, it's Hayden we're talking about here. I saw the lass run away when she was asked to kill a spider."

"She's never liked them," Mike laughed.

"Hayden wouldn't hurt us."

"What you'll be fighting won't be Hayden. It'll be D-45," Sam explained. "A Dillon upgrade."

Samantha turned off the monitors and looked at the Rangers.

"Fortunately, Hayden told me she was in a warehouse somewhere in the wastelands. If we can locate it, we and rescue her before anything too bad happens."

"Well, let's do it," Dustin smiled, clapping his hands together. "Dr. K, can you track her signal?"

"If she's wearing her morpher," Dr. K nodded.

"Good, you and Greg locate her then the Rangers and I will go out and get her back."

"I don't think it'll be that easy, Dustin," Greg frowned. "We're going to invade a Venjix warehouse. There will be armies of Grinders just waiting for us!"

"I'll take care of them," Dillon smirked.

"There's also another problem," Sam added. "The warehouse holds close to two hundred humans. We'll have to rescue them as well, then shut it down."

"How do we do that?" Summer asked.

"Boom," Samantha smirked handing her cousin a small remote. "While you guys are inside locating Hayden, I'll be setting up the little chips where the reactors are. When you guys are out and Hayden and the other humans are safe, you're going to blow this place up. The warehouse is a factory where Venjix gets his Grinders and some attack bots. We destroy it, there's less resources for Venjix."

"Sounds cool," Mike smiled.

"But..." Samantha looked over at the Ranger as her face saddened. "We might get there too late... Summer, if Hayden's been turned into a robot, you have to explode the building while she's still inside."

"What?"

"I hate it too... but like Flynn said, Hayden would never hurt us, nor would she want too. It's for the best."

"I got her signal!" Dr. K smiled.

"C'mon guys," Dustin called, leading the team out as a lump appeared in his throat. What if Hayden was already lost?

"Take the Zords. We'll need to a way to transport these people back," Sam said.

-----RPM-----

Summer scanned the building, with Flynn right beside her while the others waited by the Zords. She looked over at the Blue Ranger and frowned.

"I don't think I can do this," she said, gesturing to the remote in her hand. Flynn nodded.

"I don't think I could either, lass."

He got up and offered his hand to help her to his feet, before they ran back.

Summer walked up to Scott, and nodded, "It's quiet. Now or never."

"Alright, everyone listen up!" Scott called. "Our primary objective should be to destroy this warehouse."

"What?" everyone asked, their jaws dropping.

"Look, I know it sounds weird, but..."

"With the factory down, taking out Venjix should be easier," Greg finished, helping out the Red Ranger. Scott nodded and smiled.

"We get in there, and plant the explosives," Scott continued, motioning to Sam, who held the small devices in her hands. "While we do that, we'll try to rescue as many people as we can. But if the operation gets dangerous, or we get caught, we have to blow the place up."

Scott turned to Summer, "Is that understood?"

Summer nodded, "We protect Corinth. I understand."

Samantha stepped up beside Scott, "I'm planting the devices. Flynn, Mike, Ziggy, you guys rescue the prisoners. Get as many of them out as possible. Scott, Summer and Dillon, you guys go after Hayden. Find her and get her out."

"What about us?" Dani asked, pointing to her and Greg.

"You guys are going to help me with the explosives. I'm going to need Greg to help me wire them into Summer's remote, and I'll need you speed in case we get stuck."

"I'll look out from here," Dustin said. "If I see anything suspicious I'll let you know."

"How do we know when the place goes up in flames?" Dillon asked.

"If someone gets caught use the morphers to let everyone know. Unless it's an emergency, I suggest radio silence," Samantha said.

"We all know what we're doing?" Scott asked. Everyone nodded. "Good."

-----RPM-----

Summer was shaking in fear as she walked behind Scott and Dillon in search for her cousin. She was playing with the remote in her hands. At the moment, she held Hayden life in her hands.

She was almost afraid of what she might find. She had no idea how long it took for someone to go from human to robot, and she wasn't about to ask Dillon. He had amnesia. By the time they found her, Hayden could have been turned into a robot bend on destroying them.

And what if Venjix' plan failed and Hayden was left as just a vegetable? Summer wouldn't be able to see that. It would kill her to know she had been too late.

Suddenly, Summer bumped into the two boys.

"It's a fork in the road," Scott sighed, looking down both hallways. One went left, the other went right.

"We don't have time to guess," Dillon frowned. "I suggest splitting up."

Scott nodded, turning to Summer. He was about to ask her about it, until he saw the fear in her eyes. This was obviously hard on her. He figured he would make it easier by letting her go with Dillon.

"I'll go this way," Scott said, pointing to the hall on the left. "You two can go right. Maintain radio silence until we've found something."

Dillon nodded, pulling Summer along with him. He knew she was scared, so he held her hand.

"I'm here, Sunshine," he whispered.

Summer looked up and smiled.

"I know."

The walk was long and silent as the two tried to find any sign of Hayden. It was a hard journey on Summer, as well as Dillon. He couldn't remember this place, but he knew he had been here before. After all, where else would he have gotten his implants?

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, Dillon felt Summer being ripped away from him. He turned around and growled, before realising who it was that had taken her.

Hayden.

He came to Summer's rescue, kicking Hayden away and pulling the yellow Ranger to her feet.

"Summer, I know you can't do this," he told her, standing between her and Hayden to keep the younger girl away as he tried to help Summer. He knew he was going to need Summer's help at some point, and she wasn't going to offer it if she refused to hurt Hayden, "but it could be the only way. Maybe she's not totally gone!"

Hayden landed a kick on Dillon's head, knocking him to the ground as she looked over at Summer. Her eyes were shinning red.

"Hayden... what did he do to you?" she asked, before Hayden charged. Summer instinctively fought back to defend herself, but couldn't go on the offensive.

"_Guys, we've been spotted, get out!" _Samantha's voice came over the communicator. _"Flynn, are the prisoners out?"_

Flynn directed the wave of people towards the Zords, where Dustin was waiting for them and helping in into the Blue Zord. It was the biggest and could carry the most passengers.

"_Aye. Everyone accounted for."_

"_Summer, you have to blow it up!"_ Samantha told her cousin. _"Have you found Hayden?"_

"She's gone robot," Summer announced sadly so everyone could hear. She cut off communication and sighed.

Summer looked up at Hayden, then down at the remote. She felt the tears coming as she pushed the button.

"I'm so sorry Hayden," she whispered.

Hayden seemed to pick up on something being wrong and fled further into the warehouse.

Dillon grabbed Summer and pulled her out.

Once everyone was safely outside, the warehouse went up in flames. The walls and roof could be seen caving in. Whatever was inside wouldn't be able to make it out.

"That was the..."

"... biggest boom we have..."

"... ever seen!"

Greg frowned as he heard two of the prisoners speak together. He only knew of two people who could do that.

"Gem? Gemma?" he asked, removing his helmet and running over to them. When the two saw him, they smiled, catching him in a hug.

"Greg, it's so..."

"... great to see you..."

"... how have..."

"... you been?"

"You know these guys?" Scott asked, coming up beside Greg.

The gold Ranger nodded, "Dr. K wasn't my only friend in Alphabet Soup," Greg turned to the twins. "Dr. K and I... we thought you were dead!"

"Oh, we weren't dead," Gemma frowned.

"We were prisoners of..."

"... the Venjix. He captured us and forced..."

"... us to work long and painful hours creating..."

"... his robot armies. But we did meet..."

"... some people, especially that new girl..."

"... she was scared so we..."

"... talked to her through the night and..."

"... calmed her down."

The Rangers and Dustin blinked, before Ziggy spoke up.

"I know that is going to get very annoying, very fast," he said, pointing to the twins.

Suddenly, Samantha screamed in pain, clutching her head.

"What is it?" Dani asked, putting her hand on Samantha's back. The older girl looked over at her.

"It's Hayden," Samantha whispered, "She's in pain... lots of pain."

Mike and Summer both tried to run, but Flynn and Scott grabbed them. Mike struggled for a bit in Flynn's grasp, but finally realised the blue Ranger was right. Is Hayden had been turned, it was probably best for all of Corinth if she remained in the waste.

Summer refused to leave her baby cousin and screamed, knocking Scott to the ground before running back to the warehouse. Dillon groaned, running after her.

"Summer, no!" he yelled as she pushed her way past flaming debris to crawl inside. He made a note to teach her the rules of fire safety before following her inside.

Dillon finally caught up to her inside and grabbed her arm.

"Summer, no," he frowned. "If we don't get out of here..."

"I'm not leaving without Hayden!"

"I'll go after her," Dillon told the yellow Ranger, "as long as you get out!"

Suddenly a piece of the roof fell behind Summer then another behind Dillon, blocking the exit. Summer and Dillon both jumped, and somehow Summer ended up wrapped in Dillon's arms.

"Looks like neither of us is leaving," Summer whispered, turning around in Dillon's arms to look up at him. That's when she realised how close they were.

Another piece of debris fell behind Summer, with the flames burning her back, causing her to whimper in pain as her face twisted into an expression of fear.

Dillon looked Summer in the eyes, trying to calm her down, before he was attacked by a memory. It was the same one that haunted him. It was Summer's memory... or so he thought.

The memory was much clearer now. He saw Summer's fearful look as she looked down at her friend. It matched the one she wore now.

Suddenly, the memory shifted. Fifteen year old Summer was no longer looking down at her friend. She was looking down at him.

"_Go," he told her, but she shook her head, eyes watering when she saw the blood seeping through his black jacket. "Summer, __go__. I'll make sure they don't follow. I'll come and find you when I get out... I promise"_

_He pulled the pipe out and stood, glancing over his shoulder. "Sunshine, __please__."_

"_No, you're injured, I can't just—"_

"_GO!" he barked, and she ran off. Suddenly, he screamed in pain and she turned to see him fall._

"I've been searching for you," Dillon realised, snapping back to reality. "That memory wasn't yours... it was my own."

"What?" Summer asked, looking up at Dillon. "What are you talking about?"

"I promised I would come for you, Sunshine," Dillon smirked. "I told you to run to safety, and I would follow you out. I told you I would come for you when I got out. I did. I didn't remember it, but I did come for you."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Summer yelled. Dillon wrapped his arm around her waist, careful not to hurt her back. He was sure it had been burned badly from the fallen wood.

"I'll explain later," Dillon smiled. "Now, seeing as there is no way out, I say we find your cousin."

He took Summer's hand in his and pulled her in close. The heat was intense, but thanks to his robotic part, it wouldn't affect him like it would her, so he had to keep her safe and cool, somehow.

"Hayden?" Summer called, searching for her cousin, trying to ignore the heat and the pain and the fear. She had one goal at the moment. Finding her cousin.


	18. Hayden's Rescue Part II

Samantha screamed in pain again as she felt Hayden's presence and dropped to her knees. Mike and Flynn wanted to go in with Summer and Dillon to rescue the pink Ranger, but knew it was too late.

"The fire would been too much to handle," Dustin whispered. "There's no way any of you could get inside without being torched."

"Uncle Dustin, I'm a water ninja, remember?" Mike asked, hoping to find a way.

"The water would evaporate long before you could put out a single flame," Dustin sighed. "You're not that powerful."

He looked over at the building and took a deep breath, "This is the hardest call I've ever had to make... but... Rangers, stand down and wait for something to happen."

"We can't do that!" Ziggy frowned, "Three team-mates are in there and..."

"Unless you want to lose the team, stand down!" Dustin yelled. "Stand down, and hope for the best. If anyone can get out of this it would be Summer and Dillon."

"What about Hayden?" Greg asked.

"I don't know..." Dustin sighed. "I... I really don't know."

-----RPM-----

"Hayden!" both Summer and Dillon yelled searching everywhere they possibly could.

Suddenly, a loud scream filled the air, and both Rangers knew where they had to go.

Dillon let go of Summer before running into a burning plank of wood, using his shoulder to break it and clear a path. As soon as the wood snapped, he fell forward.

Summer ran over to him and knelt down beside him. He smiled at her and nodded, showing her she was okay. Suddenly, her eyes found what she was looking for.

Hayden was trapped under a burning beam, screaming as the fire burned her skin.

"Summer," she smiled, seeing her cousin, before screaming again. Summer wondered about her condition. Was it really Hayden or robo-Hayden.

Dillon got to his feet and stood beside Summer. He looked at Hayden's position and understood what was going on.

"The flames are burning her," he told the yellow Ranger, "and her skin is healing, only to be burned again."

"It's a cycle of pain?" Summer asked.

Dillon nodded, "And it's going to keep going until we get the beam off her."

"What about her robo-parts?" Summer asked.

"If the hardware can spread through me, who's to say her healing power can't flush it out?" Dillon smirked.

Summer looked down at her cousin. Hayden's eyes were no longer shining red. They were back to normal. Could Dillon be right?

"C'mon, Sunshine!" Dillon called as he tried to lift the beam off Hayden, "We came in here to save her!"

"Right," Summer nodded. She ran over to the other end of the beam and looked down for a place to grab. Almost the entire thing was burning. She found a cool spot and tried to help Dillon lift.

Suddenly, Hayden screamed in pain. Both Rangers let go of the beam as Summer looked over at Dillon, worried.

"We can't lift it," she sighed.

Dillon frowned and grabbed his morpher, "Guys, we need a hand in here!"

"Dillon, they can't get past the fucking firewall at the door!" Summer yelled.

"I hate to tell you this, Sunshine, but you're not strong enough to get this beam off, even with my help," Dillon stated.

"Don't you have enhanced ability?" Summer asked.

"Yeah, but I can't get a grip on it. Maybe with someone else's help we can lift, and you can pull Hayden out!" Dillon explained.

-----RPM-----

Scott looked over at Mike and Flynn. He knew that after hearing Dillon's plea for help, those two would be the most likely to run off.

"Mike, Flynn, don't!" Scott ordered, "There's no way any of us can get inside the building now, and get out alive!"

"Three of our team-mates are in there, man!" Flynn argued, "We can't just leave them!"

"Guys... Scott's right," Dustin frowned, "We have to trust that they can get out on their own."

"Well, obviously they can't!" Mike yelled, "Dillon, out of everyone, _Dillon_ asked for help!"

Dustin put his hand on Mike's shoulder and looked his nephew in the eyes.

"Mike, call your mother. Tell her to get her ass out here."

"What's that going to do?" Ziggy asked.

"Tori's a water ninja," Dustin explained as Mike tried to get a hold of Tori. "Maybe together, she and Mike can put out the flames and we can go in."

"What do we do until then?" Flynn asked.

"We wait," Dustin sighed, "We wait for the fire to be put out, then we run in."

"But the others could be dying in there, man!" Flynn yelled.

"Flynn..."

Flynn ignored Dustin's protests and ran off towards the burning building, hoping to get to the others in time.

"Dillon, I'm coming to help you!"

Mike turned to his uncle and frowned, "Oh, you let him go, but not me?"

"Get your mother on the line," Dustin growled.

-----RPM-----

Inside the building, the roof was starting to cave in much faster, surrounding the three Rangers in flames. Summer was starting to feel the effects of the intense heat as she dropped to her knees. Sweat dripped off her forehead as she tried to stay awake.

Hayden had passed out long ago. Dillon had mentioned it was from lack of oxygen and pain. He also said there could have been blood loss involved.

"How the hell are you still standing?" she asked Dillon, hoping a conversation would keep her from passing out.

"I'm a robot, remember?" he smirked.

"Not yet," Summer smiled.

Dillon smiled back as he walked over to Summer. He knelt down in front of her and took her hand in his.

"You don't remember what happened, do you?" he asked her. "Or who he is?"

"Dillon, don't start that again!" Summer growled. "I don't want to remember!"

"Even if he's right here?" Dillon asked. Summer head snapped up as she looked into Dillon's eyes.

"He's..."

"Sunshine... I think there's a reason I liked that nickname on you," Dillon smirked, pulling Summer closer. "It came to me naturally. As soon as I heard your name, something clicked."

Summer smiled as Dillon wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to her feet. Even now, when she was sure she was going to die, she felt safe. She felt like he was going to protect her, no matter what.

Their lips were now inches apart, and Summer could see Dillon move in closer. She was about to do the same when...

"Did someone call for help?" Flynn grinned as he pushed his way into the building, wearing his Ranger suit to protect him from the flames. He still had to push through some fallen beams from the roof surrounding the Rangers. With one powerful body check, he broke the beams, creating a path and burning his suit.

He powered down and smiled at the two, wrapped in each other's arms.

"Aw, how cute," he said, before frowning, "did you two forget you're in a burning building and about to be tomorrow's barbeque dinner?"

Summer pulled away from Dillon and ran back to Hayden, "Flynn, Dillon needs your help to lift the beam off of Hayden."

"Wait, you mean she's trapped under there?" Flynn asked, pointing to the burning beam.

"She's tomorrow's dinner if we don't get her out."

"And you two have just been standing here making out?" Flynn growled. He ran over to the beam and lifted it, while Dillon helped him on the other end. Together, both boys managed to lift the beam off Hayden and toss it aside.

When Hayden was safe (as safe as she could be trapped inside a burning building), Dillon came over to Summer's side and wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her up. He didn't need as much oxygen as other humans, but he knew Summer was slowly caving. With no oxygen, she would have no energy to get herself out.

Flynn picked Hayden up in his arms, and turned to the door.

"Well, well," Tenaya smirked, appearing in their path, "looks like its barbeque Ranger night."

"Remind me to hate barbeque," Dillon growled.

"Leave the girl," Tenaya ordered. Flynn held onto Hayden tighter. He had just run in here to save her, risking his life. He wasn't about to hand her over to the first robotic bitch he ran into.

Tenaya rolled her eyes when she saw the Rangers were standing still, glaring at her.

"She's a robot anyway," she frowned, "What good will she do to you? She's better..."

"I think your master didn't use strong enough parts for Hayden's body," Dillon smirked.

Summer grabbed his arm, "Dillon, that's just a theory you had!"

"A theory that would make total sense," Dillon grinned. "Her body is made to heal itself. Foreign objects would be rejected and removed."

"Ew," Summer frowned, imagining how Hayden's body would remove the robotic parts inside her. "You mean like... it would... pop out?"

"Enough chat," Tenaya frowned as she charged the Rangers. Dillon and Summer split up around the attack, putting themselves on the other side with a clear path to the exit.

Flynn wasn't as fortunate. Tenaya had orders from Venjix to keep Hayden on their side. She wasn't about to let them escape. Her attack was aimed right for them, and Flynn couldn't pull a move like Summer and Dillon.

He held onto Hayden tight and spun around, protecting her from Tenaya's blow with his back. Her punch hit him right in his upper back, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the ground, on top of Hayden.

The Pink Ranger woke up, crashing to the ground with blue on top of her. She looked up to see a pained look on Flynn's face.

"Flynn?" she coughed.

"Morning, lass," Flynn smirked, seeing her awake.

Hayden looked around at the flames before spotting Tenaya hovering over her and Flynn. She screamed, remembering what the female attack bot wanted with her.

Flynn saw a fearful look in her eyes and knew what was going on above him. Tenaya was standing over, ready to grab Hayden.

"Not today," he growled, wrapping his arms around Hayden and rolling to the side as Tenaya kicked her foot down.

When they were out of danger's way, Flynn and Hayden pressed themselves against the wall. Hayden was pinned up in the corner, and Flynn was right in front of her, protecting her from Tenaya.

Suddenly, the Pink Ranger started coughing. Flynn didn't make much of it, he was starting to feel a little out of breath himself.

When Hayden grabbed his arm in a death grip, he looked over at her.

She was holding her throat with one hand and her stomach in the other, coughing as if she was trying to get something out of her system.

Suddenly, the coughing ceased and the gagging began.

"Oh, don't tell me," Flynn frowned, "it's popping out, ain't it?"

With that, a robotic part ripped its way up Hayden's throat and was almost literally thrown out of her mouth along with something else from her stomach and blood from the tear in her skin. Flynn had to keep himself from gagging at the sight.

Suddenly, Hayden started coughing again and Flynn had an idea. He grabbed the robotic part and examined it. It was only one part, a big part, but one little piece of the robotic puzzle inside her.

Flynn then looked up at Tenaya, who was moving in closer. As Hayden coughed up another piece, he threw it at the femme fatal.

Tenaya didn't see the projectile coming and was knocked back by the sudden hit. She picked up what had it her and frowned.

"That's disgusting!"

"There's more where that came from, lass!" Flynn yelled, throwing the other pieces Hayden was coughing up. Tenaya was stumbling back, trying to avoid the sharp, metallic robotic parts.

When Hayden stopped coughing and Flynn ran out of ammo, he grabbed her in his arms once more. Using Tenaya's distance to his advantage, Flynn bolted for the door.

He saw that whatever path he had cleared on his way in no longer existed as the roof continued to fall. He put Hayden on her feet, supporting her weight with one arm while glaring at Tenaya.

Suddenly, a huge mass of water fell from the sky, landing on the two Rangers and Tenaya and putting out the flames in the building.

Tenaya glared up at the sky, where she saw two ninjas standing, high-fiving each other. She shifted her gaze back to Flynn and Hayden and laughed.

"Did you really think a little water is going to stop me?" she asked.

Flynn didn't question the downpour of water; he just knew it was his way out. His hours as a fireman taught him that even when the fire was out, there was still a chance it could start up again. He smirked at Tenaya.

"Not really," Flynn shrugged, turning to run. Tenaya growled, stomping her foot on the ground.

"Drat."

Flynn and Hayden caught up to Dillon and Summer, who were waiting just outside.

"What took you so long?" Summer asked.

"Hayden got a little sick," Flynn smirked.

"Ew," Summer frowned, wondering exactly what Flynn meant by sick.

"Pop," Flynn added. Summer scrunched up her face in total disgust. "I'm glad I didn't see that."

Hayden suddenly started to sway in Flynn's arms before her knees buckled. Flynn caught her before she hit the ground and looked down at her, worried.

"Hayden?" he called, gently getting on his knees and cradling Hayden close. Summer and Dillon went down as well, equally worried.

The two Ninjas from the roof jumped down and landed beside the four Rangers. Mike pulled off his mask and looked down at his cousin.

Tori was next to pull off her mask and tried to take Hayden from Flynn, but the blue Ranger wouldn't let go. She stood up and looked out into the distance, where the others were all waiting. She lifted her arm and waved them over.

In a flash, Dani was at her side.

"Ooh, you guys don't look too good," she commented, looking down at her friends. As one would expect from survivors of a burning building, they had all obtained several deep and painful burns. Some of them were even bleeding.

The red head powered down, out of her suit, and took off her shirt. She was thankful that, even though the wastelands were hot, she decided to wear an undershirt.

Dani grabbed her shirt in both hands and ripped it in three. She handed one piece to Summer, another to Dillon and the last to Flynn.

"Cover it up and use it to stop the bleeding."

Tori was shocked to see Dani as a Ranger. Last she heard, the Marks were living in NewTech.

"Dani..."

"I ran away," Dani frowned. She knew she had to admit it. Tori glared at the red head before pulling out her old morpher. She stepped away to call Ronny and David. Dani smirked. She knew her aunt would do so, and her parents would be waiting for her back at home, which meant the other Rangers would have a doctor at the ready to look at their burns.

"I'm smarter than I look," Dani smirked to herself.

The other Rangers joined moments later. Dustin pushed through the teens and grabbed his daughter from Flynn's arms.

Tori joined the Rangers as well, after just getting off the phone with Dani's parents, and spotted Greg.

"Okay, what?" she asked.

She knew he was gone in a School for smart kids, and hadn't been heard from since he left (aside from the occasional letter to his parents). She also noticed that he was wearing the Series Gold suit, just as Dani had been wearing Series Silver.

Something didn't add up. She didn't even know there was a gold or silver Ranger. What happened to the good old days of primary colours, green, black, pink and/or white?

"I'll explain it all to you on the way home," Mike chuckled.

-----RPM-----

The Rangers walked into the garage where they met up with Kaylee, Ronny and David. Karly was currently glaring at the sock human, waiting for the right chance to attack.

When Ronny and David saw their daughter safe and sound, they almost burst into tears. Dani knew they were angry behind their relieved looks, but still allowed them to give her a hug.

"What were you thinking?" David finally asked, pulling away from his daughter and glaring down at her. "Why the hell would you run off in the wastelands like that? And without telling us? Daniela Lillian Marks..."

"Mom, dad, I'm sorry," Dani apologized, before motioning to the injured Rangers, "but, before you talk with me, can you help them?"

David and Ronny looked up and were surprised to see Summer, Hayden, Dillon and Flynn were burned and torn up from the battle. The two parents nodded, taking the injured Rangers to the lab.

Dr. K walked out as they walked in and greeted Greg. A quick hug and a few words were exchanged between the two, before Greg pulled away from the small doctor and whistled.

Suddenly, twins ran into the garage with huge smiles on their faces.

"Dr. K! It's so good..."

"... to see you again. We thought..."

"... you didn't make it!"

Dr. K stood with her mouth hung open in shock.

"Gem, Gemma?" she asked, running over to the two and hugging them tightly, afraid to let go and lose them.

"How have you..."

"... been since the attack?"

Dr. K knew the other Rangers were confused at her display of emotion. She smiled at the twins to let them know she was fine, then turned to the team.

She hoped that with Dillon out of the way, she could explain her side of the story. No matter how hard she had tried in the past few days, Dillon had always been the one to cut her off and put her down. She understood why he was so angry at her, but she still wanted the Rangers to hear her side before they judged her.

-----RPM-----

Summer watched Dillon as Ronny went over his injuries. Doc and Ronny both figured she would be best at fixing Dillon up, because she was more familiar with machines than he was.

"So, you think you're my friend from the evacuation?" Summer spoke up after a while of silence. Ronny and Doc looked over at each other, smiling as they both came up with excuses to leave the two alone (well, Flynn and Hayden were still in the room, but Hayden was unconscious and for some reason Flynn refused to leave her side).

"I don't think, Sunshine, I know," Dillon smiled, walking over to Summer's table, where she was sitting. He stood before her, taking his hands in her. "Mike told me about what happened to you in the evacuation, and I somehow remembered it. I thought I had just programmed your memories into my head and ignored them... but seeing you... so scared. I knew I had seen that face before. Then it clicked. I was your friend in the evacuation. I saved you and I promised you I would find you when I got out."

Dillon reached into his pocket and pulled out the small watch.

"Well, guess what, Sunshine, I've travelled three long months through the wastelands, and I found you."

Summer let out a small sob as Dillon pulled her into himself, holding her close.

"I love you, Summer," he whispered. "I knew I would find you one day."

"I missed you, Dillon," Summer smiled.

Flynn looked over at the two and smiled. They had found each other. He turned back to look at Hayden, who's eyes were fluttering open. She looked up at him with a big smile on her face.

She turned and saw she was receiving her sister's blood again. She found it a little ironic how she was invincible, and yet the only Ranger to ever need the hospital bed.

Hayden sat up, with a little help from Flynn and pulled the IV from her hand.

"Lass, you..."

"I'm okay now," she whispered. She dangled her feet off the bed and agve Flynn a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks for saving me back there."

She hopped off the bed, winking at Summer over Dillon's shoulder. Before leaving the room she turned around.

"I'm going to rest up in my room. If you need me, just knock!"

She walked out as Samantha walked in. The two sisters hugged, happy they were still together.

When Hayden was gone, Sam turned to Flynn. She saw he was touching his cheek and looking down at the bed where Hayden had just been resting. She walked over to him with a smile.

"On the way back my car was making a funny noise, think you can check it out?"

Flynn looked up at the older girl, but Samantha pointed her gaze to Summer and Dillon for a second. He nodded and followed her out.

-----RPM-----

Ronny and Doc were packing up their car with Dani and Greg in tow. They were going to take the two new Rangers away for a few days, for personal reasons.

Ronny figured Rose and Mack would want to see their son again, and they were taking him home for a few days.

Ronny and Doc also wanted to talk to Dani about running off and the dangers of the wastelands. They also wanted to talk to her about being a Ranger (seeing as there was no backing out now) and the responsibility it took. The two parents also wanted to keep an eye on Dani. She was just like her mother in so many ways, and Doc and Ronny were afraid she might run off again if she wasn't getting the challenge and adventure she needed.

In order to keep an eye on her, Ronny asked Kaylee if she could work for Project RANGER. Kaylee accepted, giving Ronny a job as the mechanic for the Zords. This meant that she and Dr. K would have less to worry about and more time to focus upgrades and training.

It also allowed Kaylee to spend a little more time with Hayden. When Hayden was kidnapped, Kaylee stayed home as Dustin took over. In her fear, Kaylee tried to imagine the good times she had with Hayden. She hoped thinking of that would cheer her up.

Unfortunately, it only made matters worse. Kaylee couldn't remember spending any quality time with the daughter she had raised. Every memory had either Dustin, Christian, Summer or Sam. When Kaylee thought about it, she realised that it had been months since she and Hayden had been... normal.

Kaylee knew she had to start spending more time with her daughter. All the changes since the end of the world seemed to have turned Hayden's life upside down. Sometimes for the better, like being a Ranger or Sammy's return; sometimes it was for the worse.

Hayden had grown up as an only child. She always had her parents' attention. No one was there to interrupt or take time away. If Hayden needed her mother, Kaylee would be there. It would have been hard for her to adjust to having a little brother, especially a two year old, who was still so dependant of both parents. It would also have been hard for her to live with Summer all the time. As much fun as the two had, Summer needed Kaylee and Dustin just as much as Hayden did, and it took more time away from the formerly only child.

And, though Samantha's return was a blessing, it probably did nothing to help the situation. She had been missed by everyone, and Kaylee was trying to make up for lost time.

Put all that together, and Hayden had pretty much been tossed aside.

Kaylee swore to herself to make it up to Hayden: one full day, just the two of them and Dustin. All their attention would be on Hayden.

But before that, Dr. K had a story to tell.


	19. Doctor K

"Alright, you wanted to tell us your story, go ahead," Dillon frowned, sitting on the couch with Summer on his lap. Scott, Flynn and Hayden were also sharing the couch, while Ziggy and Mike sat on the ground, leaning back on the other's legs.

Daniela and Greg had returned to the Garage, along with Ronny. Daniela and Ronny were sitting on the hood of their car, while Greg was sitting on a stool, beside Gem and Gemma and behind Dr. K.

Rose and Mack were also there, standing behind the couch with Kaylee and Dustin. Everyone here was somewhat interested in Dr. K's story: whether it was because they were starting to understand her regret and fear of her past, or because they wanted answers, or because they were pinned down by their new girlfriend.

"Dillon, let her talk," Summer frowned, gently punching Dillon in the chest.

Greg, Gem and Gemma saw Dr. K was a little hesitant, so they all smiled. Dr. K knew they would stand by her, no matter how the others reacted. That was all she needed.

"When I was five..."

-----RPM-----

_A very young Dr. K was riding her bike through the town when she spotted another little girl playing with chalk. She stopped beside her and got off her bike. The little girl looked up at her and offered her the chalk. A smile appeared on K's face as she took the drawing instrument and began writing down everything that had been floating around in her mind._

_Moments later, the area was filled with equations, formulas and more. The young doctor only stopped when a man and a woman, dressed in black business suits and sunglasses, walked up to her. K smiled, getting to her feet and offering them the chalk._

-----RPM-----

"... After that, I was taking to Alphabet Soup... a secret government facility," Dr. K breathed. "There, I met Greg."

"But, I thought it was a school?" Mack frowned, looking over at his son.

"That was the lie they told you so you wouldn't get suspicious," Greg explained. "In Alphabet Soup, we worked everyday developing weapons and technology for the government."

"So you were a bunch of smartie-pants working with high pay?" Dillon asked, "I should be understanding of that?"

"Maybe, Ranger Black, it would help if I told you of our daily lives at Alphabet soup," Dr. K frowned. "I'll start with my first birthday there."

-----RPM-----

"_It's time to celebrate your first year with us here at Alphabet Soup! Happy birthday, K," the male supervisor said, placing a white cake in front of K. She blew out the candles, before the woman took the cake away._

"_Can I go outside now?" K asked, looking up at her "parents". They both shook their heads._

"_K, we've been over this. You're a very sick little girl, and the sun makes you unwell," the woman explained. Of course, it was a lie the government told the children to insure they didn't leave. None of the kids were actually allergic to the sun. "But you know what could be really fun in the meantime..."_

"_... you could try cracking this series of encrypted rocket codes..."_

"_... or you could design a thermal sensitive guidance system!"_

"_Or, how about..."_

_And it went on and on. Every day, every year, K listened to suggestion from the man and the woman watching over her. She spent many hours doing as she was told and cracking codes for them. And never once had K gone outside._

_Now, at twelve years of age, Dr. K was sitting in front of a birthday cake. She blew out the candles and waited for the people to take the cake away from her._

"_We need you to write us a very special computer programme!" the woman smiled as the man placed a laptop down in front of her._

"_Can I go outside?" K asked._

"_Outside? Sorry honey, but you're still very allergic to the sun."_

"_Maybe next year."_

_The man and woman left, leaving Dr. K to her business. Suddenly, a boy her age walked over to her, carrying a notepad._

"_You're allergic too?" he asked her._

"_Yep," K sighed, getting to work on the computer._

"_I've been here forever," the boy said. "I'm Greg. I was told to come into this room. Apparently we're getting more kids."_

-----RPM-----

"I'm still not seeing a reason to pity Dr. K," Dillon frowned. "So it took you years to make your first friend. Big whoop!"

"Dillon," Kaylee snapped, hitting Dillon on the back of the head. "Shut up!"

The blond girl looked over at her partner and smiled softly.

"Keep going, Dr. K. We're all listening."

"I'm not," Dillon frowned, but another slap from Kaylee changed his mind.

"Okay, okay."

-----RPM-----

_Weeks later, Dr. K was still hard at work on her project. She had been asked to create a virus that the government would upload into enemy technology when it was complete. Dr. K was close to completion, but she just needed to find a way for the user to maintain control of the virus, while the victim couldn't do a thing to stop it._

_In the weeks that had passed, Dr. K and Greg had become close friends. They were able to work together in one room silently for hours, they take a break and be the teens they were supposed to be._

_Kids had been moving around form room to room, bunking with others as more and more little geniuses were recruited. So it was no surprise when two teens, a little older than K and Greg walked in, waving happily._

"_Hello..."_

"_.... Dr. K and..."_

"_... Greg..."_

"_... I'm Gem..."_

"_... and I'm Gemma..."_

"_... we're going to have so much fun working together..."_

"_... just tell us what we can do to help..."_

"_... you with your projects!"_

_Dr. K and Greg exchanged looks before K looked over at the twins._

"_You can stop talking like that," she frowned._

"_Like..."_

"_... what?"_

_-----RPM-----_

_A month later, it was Dr. K's birthday. For the first time, because she had room mates, she was allowed to have friends at the "party"._

"_Happy birthday!" the three roommates cheered before handing the young girl a present. K looked at it, confused._

"_Why?" she asked, holding the gift in her hands._

"_It's your birthday..."_

"_... and we're friends!"_

_Greg frowned. Though he had gotten used to the twin speak, it was still very weird at times. But the frown turned into a smile as he stood between the Gem twins._

"_Gem, Gemma... you two should know... I don't even like you," Dr. K frowned as she unwrapped her gift._

_Unlike Greg, Dr. K was a little less social and always had a hard time accepting others; especially if they were so much different than her. She had an easier time accepting and befriending Greg because he knew when to give her her space and when she needed to talk. Gem and Gemma were hyper twins who needed attention all the time._

_Gem and Gemma smiled._

"_That's okay, we know..."_

"_... We can still like you, can't we?"_

_-----RPM-----_

_Dr. K was using the pencil she had received from her three friends a week before to help her type in information on her computer, when a butterfly caught her eyes. She called over to the others (all of which were her friends at this point) to show them._

_Suddenly, the butterfly flapped it wings and flew off outside the room. Dr. K, Greg and the Gem twins shrugged before following it until it reached a window. All four young teens covered their eyes as the sun shone in, and stepped back, fearing they would get a reaction._

_Suddenly, Dr. K stuck her arm out, into the light._

"_Nothing," Greg frowned, doing the same._

"_We gotta get out of here!" K announced, running back to her room. The twins and Greg were right behind her._

"_But we don't have access..."_

"_... to Alphabet Soup's security computers!"_

"_I don't need access," K explained to the twins, grabbing her laptop and turning it on. "I just need to blind the server for a few minutes."_

"_But K, we don't have full control of the virus yet!" Greg frowned._

"_We don't need control. When I install the firewall, the virus will never be able to leave this place. It'll go down soon enough and we can get out!"_

_Dr. K pulled out a card from her lab coat and was about to install it, when two men rushed into her room, grabbing her arms._

_Another set of guards grabbed her friends, pulling them out._

_Suddenly, in a move that surprised everyone, Gem and Gemma flipped the men holding them, freeing themselves. The other guards saw this and released their grip on K and Greg to hold the twins._

"_Don't worry..."_

"_... about us! We'll hold off..."_

"_... the guards until you guys are out!"_

"_K!" Greg called, running to the computer. "You need to upload the firewall!"_

_Dr. K turned to her laptop and saw the red light. Project Venjix had been downloaded, but if K didn't put up the firewall soon, it would spread beyond Alphabet Soup._

_Suddenly, Dr. K's "parents" walked passed Greg and K and grabbed the computer, throwing it to the ground and smashing it._

"_NO!" K yelled. She knew that smashing the computer would do no harm to the virus. It had already had the time to infect the security system._

_Suddenly, alarms went off. Gem and Gemma grabbed their two friends and pushed them to the exit as they continued to hold off the guards._

"_**Escape."**_

_The alarms were blaring and blasters were coming out, shooting at anything that moved. Greg and K ducked under a blast, but Gem and Gemma weren't as fortunate._

_The blast exploded right by them as Greg and K watched._

"_NO!" they yelled._

-----RPM-----

Dr. K looked up at the Rangers and saw many of them had tears in her eyes.

"Dr. K... we are so sorry," Summer smiled, getting up and walking over to the doctor. "We should have listened to you."

"I just wanted to go outside," K breathed. Greg put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her into a one armed hug. "If I had just left everything alone... none of this would have happened."

"Dr. K, it was a mistake," Ziggy smiled, "We've all made them."

"I murdered billions of humans!" K yelled.

She looked up at her team.

"If you're still mad at me, I understand. I've caused you all unbearable pain and suffering. But I do thank you all for listening to my side of the story."

Dr. K turned, ready to head back to her lab and hide behind her screen, but Dustin ran after her, grabbing her hand and spinning her around.

"Dr. K, you're human. You make mistakes, it's normal. The important thing is that you're trying to fix it."

K looked up at Dustin, then at her team. They were all smiling (with the exception of Dillon. But he never smiled).

"You... you guys forgive me?" she asked.

"No," Kaylee shook her head, and K lowered her own. Kaylee laughed as she walked up to the younger girl. "Dr. K, I met you soon after your escape and asked you to help me with Project RANGER. I knew you were the right choice to help me. But, long before I knew this, and before I knew you, I knew you had been hurt. Dr. K, I can't forgive you for this, because I know this wasn't your mistake. You're not the one in the wrong, Alphabet Soup was. They abducted you and stole your identity and childhood. I'm not going to forgive you for what you haven't done."

"Kaylee, you are the first person outside the Soup to try and befriend me... and I've pushed you away. The only reason I've been using your name, was because you didn't have a title like the Rangers," Dr. K suddenly pulled Kaylee into a hug. "I thank you for your friendship and kind words, even when I was being cold and insensitive towards you. From now on, I will leave that job to your cat."

"Thank you!" Karly called, passing through the room to find a place to nap. Ronny glared at the cat, tucking her feet in close to her chest to make sure she was well out of reach.

When Dr. K pulled away, she could see all the Rangers were happy with her. That's when she realised what she had. A family.

She approached the team.

"This experience has taught me something," she smiled. "Because of what happened in my past, I have been trying to keep myself from future trauma and may have treated you with a degree of forced emotional detachment, perhaps even bordering on coldness."

"You must be imagining it," Dillon said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"No, it's true," K insisted, not picking up on the sarcasm. "My insistence on referring to each of you on your colour of series, instead of your names is a perfect example. So, as one of your mentors..."

"Mentors?" Ziggy asked. "How can you be our mentor if you're younger than most of us?"

"As your _mentor_, in an effort to make my feelings clear in official capacity, I will make the following announcement."

K approached the Rangers and motioned for them to stand. She walked up to Scott and looked him in the eye.

"Ranger Series Red, I greatly admire your honour, integrity, decision making ability and unusual hair. I feel lucky to have you as leader of the team, Scott," suddenly, K pulled Scott into a hug. The red Ranger looked around nervously until K pulled away.

Dr. K moved onto Hayden. The two looked each other in the eyes as K spoke, "Ranger Pink, your passion to protect your friends and family is courageous, but idiotic and sometimes unnecessary. But, I'm glad we have one Ranger ready to put her duty first. The team would be lost without you, Hayden."

K pulled Hayden into a hug, while the other girl looked to her mother, mouthing for help. Kaylee just laughed as K pulled away and smiled.

She then moved onto Summer, "As the eldest female on the team, I would like you to know that I look up to you as an example of the woman I wish to be one day. You are a great inspiration, Summer."

The yellow Ranger was pulled into one of K's awkward hugs.

Dr. K moved over to Flynn.

"Ranger blue, your passion, optimism and delightfully musical, though often incomprehensible accent are what make you one of the strongest Rangers, Flynn."

"I'm happy to help out and..." Flynn was cut off by the awkward hug.

"Ranger D-Green," K called, moving onto Mike, "Your love for your family and friends, though sometimes a little overbearing, is greatly needed on this team. I'm happy to have you on this team, Mike."

Mike felt Dr. K's arms wrap around him and tried to pull away, but K's grip was strong enough to hold him until she had enough.

K approached Dillon as he tried to turn away. Flynn and Mike grabbed him and pulled him back.

"Even though you are clearly psychologically unstable and here against your will as part of a work/release agreement, I still consider you a true hero, Dillon."

Probably the most awkward hug of all happened when Dr. K embraced Dillon. He just looked over at Summer, totally stunned. Summer couldn't hold back a small chuckle as she watched.

Dr. K finally moved onto Daniela and Ronny, "Though you are still the two newest members of the team, I await the opportunity to get to know both of you as humans."

K pulled the mother and daughter into a hug, squishing them both in her arms.

She let go, finally and approached Ziggy. He opened his arms, ready for a hug. Dr. K looked up at him, nodded, then walked back to stand before the entire team.

"You are the only family I have ever known. I love you all very much."

Dr. K, Gem, Gemma and Greg turned back into the lab, while the others looked around in shock.

"Well... that was... awkward," Summer frowned, regrouping with the team.

"Can we pretend that didn't happen and... go back to work now?" Flynn asked.

Kaylee nodded as she and Dustin walked up to Hayden. Kaylee wrapped her arms around Hayden's shoulders and looked up at Ronny.

"Ron, Dustin and I are going to take Hayden out tomorrow for the day," she smiled, "and, we want to ask you to mentor the Rangers and work with Dr. K while we're gone. It'll be a great chance for you to get to know the team you'll be working with."

"Wait, the three of you are going?" Summer asked, "Alone? No Christian, or Sammy or me?"

"Yep," Kaylee nodded.

Summer looked over at Hayden and winked, sticking her thumbs up. Hayden couldn't hide the huge smile on her face when she heard she was going to spend the day with her parents.


	20. Together

"So, where are we going?" Hayden asked, bouncing on the couch as her parents put all of Christian's stuff in a box for Summer and Sam to care for him. The sixteen year old girl had barely slept a wink the night before. Her excitement had kept her, Summer and Sam awake. There was no doubting that Hayden had felt somewhat pushed aside from her parents recently, and was overjoyed to know they still wanted to be with her.

"Well," Dustin smiled, flopping down beside his daughter, "We thought we would go to the park. We have a picnic packed up and a few outdoor games to play."

Hayden was beaming in joy. Truthfully, she didn't care where she went, as long as she was with her parents.

"Alright girls, if you have a problem, don't be afraid to call," Kaylee said, lifting the picnic basket. "Christian needs to go down for a nap after lunch, and can't get out until he's slept at least an hour, right buddy."

"Nap, nap!" Christian nodded.

"If it's not important, just call your Aunts, before us," Dustin added.

"We know," Summer and Sam nodded.

"Oh, and remember, Karly will lie to you to get you to do what she wants," Kaylee frowned. "Ignore her."

"Human, I'm right here!" Karly called from under the couch.

"I know."

Hayden was starting to really bounce, and Kaylee and Dustin knew they had to get going before she bounced through the roof.

"Alright, you ready?"

-----RPM-----

Hayden, Kaylee and Dustin were lying on a slight incline, on the grass, looking up at the sky.

"That cloud looks like a fluff ball," Kaylee giggled, pointing to a white, fluffy cloud. Dustin and Hayden looked over at her.

"Mom, they all look like fluff balls," Hayden laughed.

"Isn't the point of the game to say what the clouds look like?" Kaylee asked.

"Yeah, but babe, use your imagination a little," Dustin chuckled.

"I am! It's a green cloud!"

Hayden and Dustin face-palmed as Kaylee playfully shoved them away. Hayden exaggerated her fall and rolled down the hill, laughing until she hit something.

Hayden rolled onto her back, still giggling slightly as she looked up to see what, or who, she had hit. Suddenly, someone picked her up.

Kaylee and Dustin saw this from the top of their hill and jumped up.

"Hey, Tenaya," Kaylee called, glaring down at the attack-bot, "I think you're lost, the scrap yard's on the other end of town!"

"Clever," Tenaya scoffed, "but my master wants your precious Pink Ranger back."

"Um, hello, I'm still right here!" Hayden frowned, flipping around and bringing her legs up to hit Tenaya under the chin. The robot recoiled in pain as Hayden ran over to her parents. Dustin and Kaylee pulled her behind them, protecting her from Tenaya.

"Okay, I forgot to see that coming," Tenaya growled, rolling her neck around.

"You forgot?" Dustin laughed. "Okay."

"At least I didn't forget back-up," Tenaya smirked, snapping her fingers. Suddenly, hundreds of Grinders appeared around the family of three.

"Dammit!" Kaylee frowned, "I totally forgot! Rangers never get a day off!"

Hayden went to reach for her morpher, but a Grinder grabbed it from her, before another grabbed her around the waist. Hayden looked down and rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, taken!" Hayden frowned. She lifted her leg up, preparing to kick back the Grinder, but another grabbed her leg, holding it up. Hayden tried swinging her arms, but a Grinder grabbed that.

Kaylee and Dustin tried to make it to Hayden, but there were so many Grinders the two former Rangers had no idea what to do.

"Hayden!" Dustin yelled, shoving his way through the group of little monsters. "We're coming!"

"Dustin!" Kaylee called. Dustin looked over at his wife and nodded as she ran over to him. He caught her and threw her up in the air. Kaylee soared over the crowd of Grinders, ready to land next to Hayden to protect her.

But the army was so huge, Kaylee landed on a group of them. They held her up, and glanced up at her.

"Oh, well, plan failed. Mind if I redo?" Kaylee asked.

The Grinders put Kaylee down, ready to let her try again. Tenaya sighed, slamming her hand into her fist.

"Get her!" she yelled to the Grinders.

They obeyed, grabbing Kaylee.

"Hey! We had a deal!" Kaylee screamed, struggling to free herself from the Grinders.

"INCOMING!" Dustin yelled as he and Hayden ripped up a piece of the ground and dropped it on the Grinders around Kaylee.

Kaylee dropped to the ground as her family came around her. The three stood together in a circle as the living Grinders approached them. Tenaya joined them.

"Okay, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way," she began. "Easy way: you hand your pink Ranger over, and no one gets hurt..."

"Except me!" Hayden called, raising her hand.

Tenaya growled, "Hard way: we fight, I kick your asses and take your pink Ranger from you."

"Neither!" Kaylee yelled, charging forward.

Tenaya smirked as Kaylee engaged her in a battle.

"You're the Ranger's mentor, aren't you?" she asked.

"What's it to ya?" Kaylee asked.

"Nothing..." Tenaya shrugged, "but I heard pinky got her blood from you."

"Your point?" Kaylee frowned.

"Well, your not as powerful as she is, right? If you were robotic, your body wouldn't spit out the parts like pinky did?"

"Oh, I see what you're doing!" Kaylee smirked, pulling out of the battle for a bit. "You're trying to get me to tell you that Venjix would be better off robofying me!"

"Well, maybe not in those words, but yeah, kinda."

"MOM!" Hayden yelled as Kaylee realised her mistake.

"Aw, shit!" Kaylee growled. "I'm losing my touch."

Tenaya snapped her fingers again, "Grinders!"

The Grinders turned their attacks away from Dustin and Hayden, giving them a little break, and circled Kaylee.

"Well, this is better than my nightmare," Kaylee shrugged as the Grinders grabbed her and lifted her off the ground. Tenaya smiled and threw a smoke ball to the ground.

Just like that, Tenaya, the Grinders and Kaylee were gone.

Hayden looked over at her father with a worried look. Dustin pulled her into his arms.

"She's come out of worst," he assured his daughter.

-----RPM-----

Karly paced around the room, looking up at the two humans who had cleared out the house of Summer, Sam and Christian. When she asked why they had sent the trio to the base, Hayden and Dustin told her there was no time to talk.

Suddenly, Karly realised her first human wasn't with them.

"What happened to human family day?" she asked. "Wasn't the purpose of today to spend hours of endless and mindless fun together as a family? Where is the mother human?"

"Will you ever come around and call us by our names Dr. Karly?" Hayden snapped.

"Until the humans prove that they really are higher up than cats on the evolution scale, I will continue to refer to you as your species."

"I don't call you by your species," Hayden pointed out, "I call you by your name."

"Because you have an emotional attachment to me which allows you to think you can call me by the name that has been given to me by another human. I have never given you such permission and I don't know why you think you can lower the bars and interact with me on a personal level."

Hayden blinked at her cat. Karly just looked up and smirked.

"I put food in your bowl," Hayden finally managed to say. Karly's eyes suddenly widened, and the cat ran over to Hayden and rubbed herself against her master's leg, purring softly. Hayden giggled, picking up the cat and hugging it.

"There's my kitty," she smiled.

Karly looked her master in the eyes, "So, where is your mother?" she asked.

Hayden turned to Dustin, and Karly followed.

"She's with Venjix," he frowned.

Karly gasped, "Then why would you sent the other humans away? They could help!"

"Dad promised we would spend the day together," Hayden explained, "as a family. So we're going to rescue mom as a family."

"That plan is idiotic!" Karly yelled. "Are you really that stupid to face off Venjix alone? You the Pink Powerpuff girl and her retired old man?"

"We've warned Sam and Summer, and they're going to put the team on standby in case something goes wrong," Dustin explained, glaring at the cat.

"By the time you need help it'll be a little too late!" Karly frowned. "You guys are going to need help from a third family member from back in the day!"

The little cat ran off towards the stairs in a hurry.

"You'll need a guard cat!"

-----RPM-----

A few moments later, Karly bounced down the stairs as Hayden and Dustin were about to leave. They had their bags all packed for their journey to save Kaylee and Hayden's morpher was secured to her person.

"Wait up," Karly smirked, hopping up on Hayden's backpack and smiling as she wore her costume with pride.

"Bat-cat?" Hayden giggled, looking at her cat dressed in her Batman costume. It was the same one Ronny had given her many years ago, and Karly was happy she was back to her regular young self and it fit right.

"Karly, why do you need the costume?" Dustin chuckled, petting the cat.

"I don't have a Ranger uniform to prance around in," Karly sighed, "and what's a team without a costume?"

"I don't have one," Dustin frowned, pointing to his civilian uniform. Karly examined him closely and frowned.

"Don't you have that leather Ninja uniform?"

"Dude, we're going into the wastelands! I'm not going to wear my hot, sweaty, black leather uniform!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure my RPM jacket is going to come off," Hayden nodded.

"Well then human father, I guess you will be left out of our cool supercat group."

"Superhuman," Hayden corrected.

"Again, not until you prove that humans are the intelligent species."

Hayden and Dustin exchanged looks and nodded and they set out on their adventure.

-----RPM-----

Kaylee didn't move on the table as Tenaya pulled the needle full of blood out of her arm and placed it into a container for the computers to analyse.

Venjix stood a few feet away and watched as the computer verified Kaylee's blood for the spontaneous regeneration gene. When the results came up positive, Venjix smiled.

"Now we just need to see how powerful this ability is," he said. "If it's too strong, you will have wasted our time."

"Let me guess, I won't be going home with a warning?" Kaylee frowned.

"You won't be going home at all," Venjix hissed.

"Yeah, that was what I was thinking," Kaylee rolled her eyes. "Can we get this over with? I'm due for Frisbee in the park for three."

"If all goes well, you should be back in your city in no time," Venjix smirked, cutting Kaylee's open palm. She looked up at the virus as he waited patiently for it to heal. When nothing happened, he frowned and looked down at her.

"What's going on?" he asked, "Why aren't you healing like your daughter?"

Kaylee used her eyes to get him to move in closer (seeing as her hands were tied town). Venjix leaned over her, waiting for his answer.

Suddenly, Kaylee made a loud noise with her throat then spit on Venjix. He pulled away, wiping the spit off his face as he glared down.

"You're going to regret that!" he growled.

"I already do," Kaylee breathed, "I know I could have done better! I'm such a failure! Fail, fail, fail!"

"There won't be much time for jokes when I'm through with you," Venjix looked over at the Grinders and called them forward. As they prepared to transform Kaylee, the blonde merely smirked.

"Really? Because I get the impression that Tenaya's a real funny girl. What did she say when you pulled out the Windex monster?"

Venjix stuffed a gag in Kaylee mouth before walking away from the surgery. With his back turned, he smirked as he waited for a scream.

Kaylee was strong though, she wasn't about to let Venjix get what he wanted from her.

-----RPM-----

"You know, Venjix has the entire world at his disposal, and he chooses to put his secret palace near the last two remaining cities?" Hayden frowned as she and her father hid behind a rock to examine the palace before entering.

"Hayden, the bad guys have never been too bright," Dustin laughed.

"How do you know?" Hayden smirked, "Maybe all the past Rangers have just outdumbed them."

"Dumb means you can't speak," Dustin corrected his daughter, sticking his tongue out at her. Hayden giggled, but Karly didn't seem amused. She placed a paw on each of their legs and brought out her claws. As Hayden and Dustin pulled away in pain, she glared up at them.

"I wish you two would just dumb down! Do I have to teach you two ninjas a thing or two about being sneaky?" she hissed.

"So what's the plan?" Hayden asked her father. He was the experienced one, he should have the idea.

"Sneak in there and get her out," Dustin stated, using a tone that told Hayden she asked a stupid question.

"Right."

"Come on, the coast is clear," Karly called, jumping out from behind the rock and darting forward. Dustin and Hayden followed, chuckling as Karly's bat cape fluttered in the wind.

-----RPM-----

Kaylee's eyes opened up after hours of the long surgery and her vision was tinted green. Normally she would have found this to be awesome, but the more she recalled what happened before she passed out, the more she started to dread what was going to happen to her.

"Stand up!" Venjix barked, and Kaylee felt herself obey. Before she knew it, she was on her feet, standing before her new Master.

She looked down at her hands and arms. They were still covered in flesh; but was this her own flesh, or an artificial one like Tenaya? What part of Kaylee was still real?

Hayden, Dustin and Karly tiptoed into the room, passing unseen as they went to hid and listen in. They needed to know what they were up against before going into a battle.

"Kaylee, Kaylee," Venjix smirked, pacing around Kaylee as she stood still. She couldn't control herself at the moment. She wanted desperately to kick his ass and run home to her family, but every part of her body refused to do so. She knew it was the implants and she was scared of what this meant. "You thought you would be able to lead an army of brightly coloured superheroes against me. You thought that with a little power, determination and courage, you could rebuild what had been destroyed. Now look at where you are? Now you're going to be the one to oppose those you love dear, and you're going to take humanity down."

"I don't want to," Kaylee shook her head (that much she could do).

"You won't have a choice!"

"What if I choose not to fight the Rangers and let them destroy me?"

"What if your survival instinct kicks in?" Venjix smirked. "I've left it in you for that sole purpose. You would allow yourself to be killed."

"My mothering instinct overrules your survival one," Kaylee glared at the evil virus before her. "There is no way in hell I could ever hurt that team of Rangers! I love them all and I would rather die before I hurt any of them!"

Venjix frowned. He had forgotten about mothering instincts.

Thankfully, Tenaya was there to back him up.

"What if someone was attacking them?" she asked.

"You lay a hand on my kids and I'll find a way to use these robot parts to rip you to shreds, emo-barbie!"

"Oh, I'm not going to do anything," Tenaya smirked, "If I remember correctly, the Black Ranger has a virus inside of him that's slowly taking over his biological functions."

"Wow!" Crunch laughed as realisation hit. "The Black Ranger is a human with machine parts, slowly turning into a machine. Now Kaylee is a machine with some of her human parts left, and she's slowly turning into a human."

Crunch smiled until Tenaya shot him a glare. Kaylee wasn't supposed to know that if she waited long enough, her regeneration abilities would remove her machine parts like they had done with Hayden.

Kaylee didn't acknowledge this. She knew that if she did, Venjix would surely remove her healing ability. He needed it so he could have an invincible servant. But if this servant was going to be defiant until that ability returned her to normal, Kaylee knew Venjix would much rather take it out.

"Anyways," Tenaya continued, "what if we sped up the spread of the virus and make the Black Ranger fight the others?"

Kaylee growled. They knew she wouldn't hurt Dillon, even if he had turned against the others. She still knew him as a person and in many ways as one of her Ranger kids.

"I'll do it," Kaylee sighed, looking down. "I'll fight them, just leave Dillon alone."

Venjix nodded and Kaylee could finally feel the rest of her body. She started to walk away to prepare for her first encounter with the Rangers.

Dustin, Hayden and Karly followed her out the door and waited for her to get a little further down the hall before grabbing her. They covered her mouth as they pulled her to the ground.

Kaylee's eyes widened when she saw it was her family.

"What are you guys doing here?" she asked. Suddenly she had to find the strength to keep herself from striking them. Her robotic self must have sensed them and was telling her to destroy them. "Get out!"

"No," Dustin said firmly. "Not without you."

"No, you don't get it," Kaylee frowned, "I'll meet up with you guys inside the city, I promise. But get out before I kill you!"

"You say that to me all the time, human!" Karly pointed out. "Why should I leave now?"

Kaylee jumped up to her feet and looked down at her family. Tears were running down her face as her body prepared to fight.

"Because this time I might seriously kill you."

-----RPM-----

Dustin and Hayden stumbled into the garage, completely out of breath from their run from the Venjix palace. Kaylee had lost control and attacked them, but not before ordering them to kill her when they saw her next.

Summer and Sam saw the two and frowned.

"Where's Aunt Kaylee?" Summer asked.

Karly hopped off Hayden's backpack and ran for the intercom. She jumped on the speaker button and yelled into the microphone.

"All you pathetic humans report to the garage immediately!"

No one wanted to get on the cat's bad side as everyone ran to the garage as quickly as they could.

"Alright, what's the emergency?" Ziggy asked, "And why is the cat dressed up as Batman?"

Karly frowned before remembering her costume was still on. She shook her head which caused the head piece to slide off. Ronny giggled at the cat, remembering that fateful Halloween.

"Where's Aunt Kaylee?" Daniela asked. Summer looked over at her and shrugged. She had asked the same question moments before, but had no answers.

"Guys," Hayden said, stepping forward in front of her team of Rangers. "Remember when I was turned into a Dillon 2.0?"

"Kinda," Dillon laughed, sneaking a glance at Summer. It was thanks to Hayden's little adventure that he had remembered his past and Summer. Though it had been a rough time, Dillon was secretly a little thankful it had happened.

"Well, Venjix is pulling the same stunt twice," Hayden sighed, "This time, he's done it with my mom."


	21. Makeshift Storm Accelerate

"Can he do that?" Ziggy frowned, looking at all the other Rangers.

"Apparently," Flynn nodded. "He's turned our own mentor against us!"

Ziggy shook his head, "No, no, not that. I mean, isn't there something in the villain rulebook that says you can't recycle your own evil plans?"

"There's a rulebook?" Dustin frowned, looking over at Ronny. She just shrugged.

"I don't know, you were the villain, not me."

The RPM team looked up at Dustin. This was news to them, but they all knew it wasn't the time to bring it up.

Suddenly the alarm went off. Dr. K, Gem and Gemma ran to the monitors and turned it on.

"Hey, look, Kaylee's..."

"... safe and sound in the park!"

"She's coming home we have..."

"... nothing to worry about."

On the monitors, Kaylee summoned a bolt of lightning (powers she inherited from Leanne) and blew up a building.

"Never..."

"... mind."

Hayden and Dustin ran over to the screen to get a look. They saw Kaylee destroying buildings and putting people in danger and her body language showed that she was enjoying it.

But what they couldn't see was that behind the visor she wore, she was crying. In her head, she was Kaylee. She was Dustin's wife, Ronny's best friend, Summer and Mike's Aunt and Hayden's mother. She was forced to watch herself destroy what she worked so hard to protect.

Sam wrapped her arms around her baby sister and hugged her close she put her head on Hayden's shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"Mom would want you to do what's right. Don't let emotions stop you from saving the city."

Hayden nodded, wiping away the tears as Scott stepped up as leader.

"Are you guys ready?" he asked the team. "We go in there and we do what we can to save everyone!"

"Question is, do we save Kaylee from defeat, or from herself?" Dillon asked, hugging Summer close. Scott looked over at the Black Ranger, shaking his head sadly.

"I don't know."

Scott snuck a glance at Sam. He knew she was just as worried as her sister. She had finally been reunited with her mom and everything was going wrong.

"Guys, we do what we can and hope for the best."

-----RPM-----

Nine RPM Rangers stood before Kaylee as another building disappeared behind a wall of flames and smoke.

"Mom..." Hayden called. She knew she sounded weak and pathetic, but so far, this was the hardest battle she had to face. There was no way she could destroy her mother if the time came. Flynn immediately stepped in front of her protectively.

"Guys, kill me," Kaylee called as she started walking towards them. "Kill me now, before the battle starts. Take your guns, blasters, anything, shoot me, kill me!"

Hayden let out a sob and nearly dropped to the ground. She kept her posture though, no matter how hard this was on her.

"KILL ME!" Kaylee yelled as the metallic claws were drawn from her knuckles. Her arm went up, ready to bring the claws down in Scott's chest. Dillon stepped forward, grabbing Kaylee's wrists and matching her strength.

"I've never been in a decent battle before," he smirked, suddenly finding the strength to throw Kaylee down. "Finally someone gives me a challenge."

Kaylee looked up at Dillon, before becoming a green blur. Dillon frowned before hitting the pavement, hard.

The blur didn't stop there, it attacked all the Rangers, quickly knocking them down and slashing at each one until they powered down.

"Ninja streaking," Mike growled, pushing himself to his feet. "I've always hated that."

"You could never master it," Hayden coughed.

"Shut up."

Kaylee watched the Rangers help themselves up as she tried to fight every bone in her body telling her to go while they were down. She decided to offer them advice. It was the only way she could assist them in this battle.

"Guys, you aren't going to beat me in hand to hand combat," she called. "I'm a fucking Ninja with years of Rangering under my belt! Fight from far!"

The Rangers nodded, grabbing their morphers once more to morph. But Kaylee didn't let that happen. Before anyone knew it, she was back in the battle, kicking away the morphers.

"Move faster!" Kaylee screamed.

"This fight would be easier if you weren't kicking our asses!" Dillon yelled.

"I'm sorry, let me regain control of my body," Kaylee snapped, "Oh wait, I'm being controlled by the evil fucking villain set to destroy you guys!"

"Stop arguing!" Hayden yelled, "I think there's enough ass-kicking going on. I don't need my mom verbally beating you up as well!"

"Guys, scatter!" Kaylee yelled as her arm was raised and pointed at the Ranger. They stood frozen as a bright green light shone, powering up whatever was about to come at them.

Kaylee turned away as she felt the blast of energy rip away from her hand and hit the Rangers dead on. A giant explosion went off behind them, blasting Kaylee's ears.

When the noise died, she turned to look at the damage done. The last thing she saw before her body told her to turn and run was Hayden drop to her knees and land face down on the pavement like the other Rangers.

-----RPM-----

Gem and Gemma had arrived on the scene when the battle was over and helped the Rangers into the vehicles to take them home and get them fixed up.

Dustin turned to the wall and punched it with his fist. He was torn. He couldn't watch as the team attacked Kaylee, but he couldn't stand to see Kaylee hurting the Rangers. He had no idea what to do.

"We can't go out there," Dani frowned, shaking her head as the tear threatened to fall. "I can't fight Aunt Kaylee again! There's no way I can hurt her. And even if I could, she's outmatched all of us!"

"What if I found a way to reprogram the virus inside her?" Greg suggested.

"You idiot, she doesn't have a virus, she had robotic implants!" Dani screamed.

"Yeah, giving to her by the virus Venjix!"

"The virus you and your little buddies developed!"

Ronny and the twins pulled the Gold and Silver Rangers away from each other before the argument escalated. Ronny pushed Dani to the car and glared down at her daughter.

"You don't even bring that up again, got it?" she snapped. Dani nodded regretfully. She knew the Soup members had been hurt by that comment, especially Dr. K. She turned to the doctor and let out a small, apologetic smile.

K nodded at the silver Ranger.

"Look, there's no saving Kaylee from what's been done," K sighed, "But hopefully Gem, Gemma and I can work on stopping her."

"We need back up," Summer frowned, looking over at Dustin. "We're going to need a little more team than what we have! Kaylee's trained us! She knows all our moves. If we get another team, it might thrown her off and delay her ass-kicking reflexes. We might get the upper hand."

"Summer, do you have your mother's number?" Dustin asked.

"Yeah," Summer nodded.

"I need you to call her and tell her to get her ass down her with Leanne," Dustin ordered. Summer nodded and ran to the lab for the call.

Dustin turned to Ronny with a smile, "Ron, get Tori, Blake, Mack and Rose. We'll need a team of Rangers for a kick ass team-up, and they're the only ones still in Corinth. Oh, and get Kelly too, for another reason."

"Um, what are Leah and Kira doing then?" Ronny asked.

"They're with Kelly," Dustin smirked, "I figured, if RPM learned their moves from Kaylee, why not get the people who taught Kaylee her moves."

"Ooh!" Ronny giggled.

"Oh, and Ronny," Dustin called as the speedster was about to run off, "Do you still have your Tracker on you?"

Ronny nodded, pulling out her tracker from her pocket. She tossed it over to Dustin, who passed it along to K.

"Think you can get this, and my own working again?" he asked.

-----RPM-----

Assembled in the garage were the RPM Rangers and the recruits for the battle.

Mack, Rose, Ronny, Tori, Blake and Dustin stood side by side as Dr. K handed them their morphers, ready for use.

Kira, Leanne and Kelly stood on the sidelines and smirked.

"What a funny team," Kira giggled, tilting her head to the side to side to try and make sense of it. "One red, two yellows, two blues, different shades though, and a pink?"

"And two different teams joining up!" Kelly added.

"How did that happen?" Leanne asked.

Dustin shrugged, "I really don't know."

"Why aren't we joining?" Kelly asked, motioning to her and Kira. "We still have our morphers!"

Dustin shrugged, "You're not ninjas."

"Um, hello!" Leanne frowned.

"You don't have a morpher!" Dustin reminded her. Leanne crossed her arms and pouted.

"Stupid Cam never made one for me," she muttered under her breath.

"Well, the Overdrives aren't ninjas," Kira pointed out.

"Um... okay... well then you guys didn't drive cool vehicle Zords!" Ronny tried.

"Ninja storm had animals," Leanne smirked, "they didn't have cars or planes or boats!"

Tori raised her hand slightly, "In my defence, my dolphin was disguised as a boat."

"Not helping," Kira frowned.

"Okay then... um... let's see," Mack looked at the team and frowned. "Something we all have in common..."

"You're not a primary colour!" Dustin grinned.

Leanne looked over at Kira and Kelly, "Pink and navy aren't primaries," she told the team.

"DAMMIT!" Dustin growled.

"OH!" Blake smirked, "You guys aren't cool."

Hayden blew a raspberry at her uncle.

"Shut up," Blake grinned.

"Alright then, cool team, what are you going to call yourselves?" Kira asked, crossing her arms.

The makeshift team of Rangers exchanged looks and all shrugged.

"Um..."

"What does a makeshift team name themselves?" Kelly asked.

"OH, Makeshift Rangers!" Dustin smirked.

"Ohh," the red and navy Rangers agreed, high-fiving Dustin.

"Nevermind," Kelly sighed.

While the Makeshift Rangers tried to come up with a role call (either Makeshift Storm, Ranger form or Makeshift Accelerate), the older sisters walked to the team to brief them on Kaylee's fighting style.

Tori wasn't involved in the roll call battle and decided to join the other sisters. She sat down beside Mike and looked him in the eye.

"Water ninja's weakness?"she asked him, hoping he could figure this one out on his own.

"Um... umm... I got this... we fight like..."

"It's your own element you idiot," Karly snapped, hopping up behind the couch. Kira, Kelly and Leanne were frozen in shock, waiting for an explanation. Sadly, everyone else was used to it by now and forgot that Kira and Leanne were new to the talking cat deal.

"We fight like the water!" Mike smirked.

"No duh," Karly rolled her eyes, but Hayden swatted her off the couch.

"No, I mean, depending on the environment, we fight either aggressively or calmly. If the battle has drama or anger or high emotions, it's like the ocean in a storm. It'll fight back just as hard. If the battle is calm and relaxed, the ocean will be calm as well. Kaylee won't feel the instinct to kill."

As Mike explained this, Kira nudged the red heads beside her and pointed to Karly, who was glaring at Hayden.

Tori smiled at her son and hugged him, "Kaylee will fight the same way. If you guys keep the battle calm, then no matter how much pressure Venjix puts on her to fight, she'll keep the battle calm. It'll slow down and you guys can evaluate her moves and your own."

"And," Leanne added, still distracted by the talking cat, "Kaylee never really got weapons for long distance, minus Dino Thunder. She fights in hand to hand combat. If you keep your distance, then you'll throw her off."

Karly sat up suddenly and looked at Hayden.

"Human, don't you have that brain switch power?"

"OH!" Hayden smirked. "If two Rangers zwoop places, then that'll throw mom off two! She'll get a warrior from a chicken!"

"Right," Karly nodded, "Which means you should zwoop the light green human with the black one!"

"HEY!" Ziggy frowned.

"She's right, Ziguardo," Dillon smirked.

"Oh, and one last thing," Kelly finished, but she was also focused on the cat, "listen to Kaylee's advice. Dustin told me she was trying to help you."

"Yes," Karly added, "When she tells you to scatter, don't stand still as a group!"

"Yeah," Flynn nodded nervously.

"Alright," Dustin smiled as he and the Makeshifts walked over to the RPM team, "are you ready for this?"

"Wait," Hayden said, grabbing Dillon and Ziggy's arms before switching them. When she was done, she looked up at her father. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"Have you guys settled on a roll call?" Tori asked.

"Makeshift Storm, Accelerate!" Ronny grinned. Tori rolled her eyes and looked at Rose. The poor Pink ranger nodded her head slowly. She had listened to the discussion between the boys and Ronny and was the one who suggested combing the two. The others thought the idea was awesome and that Rose was a genius, but the pink Ranger simply used common sense and her will to escape the argument as fast as possible.

-----RPM-----

The two teams of Rangers ran through the city in search of Kaylee as the former green Ranger destroyed everything in her path. When they finally met up with her, Kaylee stopped and turned to them.

"Guys?" she asked, seeing her husband, sister and friend standing alongside the RPM team. "What are you doing here?"

"We're here to help them," Tori smiled.

"They don't need help!" Kaylee frowned, "Just kill me!"

"We can't kill you!" Dustin yelled back, looking over at his wife sadly. "We couldn't possibly do that."

Kaylee's arm was raised as she turned away from her friends. It was happening again. She was powering up.

Ronny nudged Dani and smirked, before the two turned into yellow and silver blurs. Kaylee saw this and suddenly she felt her arm being kicked upwards just as the blast was fired. The energy from the blast was shot up in the sky, sparing the Ranger's lives.

Kaylee's body knew she had to fight on the level of the two speedsters so she Ninja streaked, catching them on their level. Blurs of light collided with each other until Ronny and Dani were thrown to the grounds, powered down and squirming in pain.

Mack, Rose and Greg wouldn't stand for this as they all stepped forward.

"HEY!" Greg yelled to Kaylee, taking the charge, "No on picks on Dani like that but me!"

Mack placed his hand on his son's and Rose's shoulder and nodded. Suddenly, the pink and gold Rangers disappeared. Mack ran forward, towards Kaylee to engage her in a battle.

His super strength aided him in the fight against Kaylee, allowing him to match up against her enhanced abilities, but his refusal to hurt Kaylee brought him down. Kaylee grabbed his arms and jumped in the air. She kicked her legs up, hitting him square in the chest as he flew backwards.

By this time, Rose and Greg had been able to get in close enough to grab Kaylee. The blonde felt the two grabbing her arms. They tried to hold her still, but Kaylee swung her arms forward. The two crashed into each other and fell to the ground.

Kaylee aimed her blaster at them, ready to fire. Rose started to place herself over her son, fearing the worst, until a beam of sparking water knocked Kaylee backwards. Rose and Greg knew there was no time to waste and got to their feet, running over beside Mack as Tori, Blake and Mike took over.

Kaylee looked up at her sister and shook her head.

"Kill me, Tori," she whispered. "Kill me before I kill you."

Tori looked into Kaylee's eyes and shook her head sadly.

"Blake," she whispered as her gaze turned to her husband. "Get her."

Blake nodded sadly as he called upon the power of Thunder. Lightning hit the ground around the Bradley moments before shooting at Kaylee.

The wires and machine parts inside Kaylee reacted to the sudden blast of electricity, causing Kaylee to scream in pain. However, it wasn't enough. Kaylee still managed to take a step forward.

Ziggy ran over to Tori, "Dude, I don't think Blake's strong enough to take her down! You'll need more power!"

"How?" Tori frowned.

"Doesn't water conduct electricity?" Ziggy smirked. Tori smiled back at him then turned to her son.

"Ready for this?" she asked him.

Mike nodded, taking his place beside his father on the left as Tori stood on his right. Together they lifted their arms, combining their water beams with Blake's power.

The lightning began to grow and Kaylee screamed louder. She dropped to her knees, finally feeling weak.

She looked up at Tori and the older Hanson saw the weak and scared face. She couldn't do it anymore. She couldn't hurt Kaylee, even if it was for the better of everyone.

"Mom, I'm losing you!" Mike yelled, trying to help. Tori just shook her head as her powers began to fade. Kaylee's body was now back in power. She held her hands up, absorbing the blast and redirecting it.

The Bradleys and Ziggy were caught in the explosion as their attack backfired. Blake and Ziggy landed a few feet away from Dani and Ronny, while Tori and Mike landed and rolled close to Summer

The yellow Ranger growled. She was tired of seeing her family get their ass kicked by the robot controlling her aunt. Dillon senses her anger and stood by her.

"I'm with you Sunshine," he smiled.

Summer nodded before opening her mouth to scream. She knew Kaylee's circuitry must have been weakened by the lightning and figured now was as good as ever to try and destroy her from the inside out. Her sound waves ripped through the air, causing everyone to cover their ears.

Dillon could feel something happening to his robotic parts and he looked over to Kaylee. She held her head in pain, waiting for the scream to stop.

He knew she was hurting, and because she was more of a robot than him, he knew he had the advantage. He jumped forward and swung her arm around, connecting with the side of her face. Kaylee fell to the ground, unmoving.

Summer's screams stopped as she looked down at her aunt.

"I've played dead before," Kaylee yelled before her body jumped up, hitting Dillon under the chin, snapping his head back. His robot parts saved his from death, but not from unconsciousness as he fell backwards onto the ground.

Kaylee turned to Summer, "I hope your mother's watching," she said.

"Why?" Summer frowned, getting ready for the worst.

"Because if I hurt you, she will kick my ass!" Kaylee yelled. A cloud of green smoke appeared just as Kaylee disappeared. Summer knew this wasn't good. She remembered her mother telling her of the pranks Kaylee used to pull with the Zwop. She knew that Kaylee could surprise anyone with the teleportation.

Suddenly, Summer felt someone grabbed her arms from behind, pining them behind her back and running her into a wall.

"Aunt Kaylee," Summer muttered, pressed between the wall and her aunt. "You have to fight this."

Kaylee shook her head as one hand moved to the back of Summer's.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, slamming Summer's head into the hard wall. The yellow Ranger blacked out immediately and fell into Kaylee's arms.

"Let her go!" Scott and Flynn yelled, running over to their mentor. They didn't care who she was anymore. She had done enough damage to their friends. She had to be stopped.

Scott grabbed Summer, pulling her away as Flynn picked up his turbo cannon.

"FIRE!" Scott yelled when he and Summer were out of the way. Flynn hesitated slightly. After all, he was trying to date Kaylee's daughter. He wouldn't be making the right first impression by blasting Kaylee to bits.

But he knew that he had to do what was best and the shot was fired. Kaylee's body knew this was too easy. She jumped up and out of the way, letting the blast hit the wall.

On contact, the side of the building was destroyed, and the building started to sway.

"Flynn!" Hayden yelled as the building started toppling over on the blue and Red Rangers.

The two boys thought they were done for, until a light appeared before them, and suddenly Samantha was standing over them. She looked angelic as she created a shield to protect the boys.

Scott looked up at her pained expression before the three were caved in by the debris. He knew she had to hold up all that weight and that it had to be hard on her. He stood up and took her hands, offering her support.

Hayden and Dustin were the only two left who were still able to fight. Kaylee looked at them as her body turned to face them.

"Mom?" Hayden called out painfully as her mother stepped forward slowly. Dustin pulled Hayden behind him. He had no idea if Kaylee would be able to stop herself from hurting Hayden.

"Kaylee, please, you have to try!" he begged

"I've been trying!" Kaylee yelled. "I can't do anything. He's controlling every part of me!"

"He can't be," Dustin tried, "Kaylee, you can do this."

"No," Kaylee shook her head as her feet began their run. Her claws came out from her knuckles, ready to go in for the kill.

Dustin stepped back, pushing Hayden with him. He couldn't fight Kaylee, no matter how bad this got. All he could do was try to get through to her. He found himself with his back to a tree, and Hayden behind him, slightly off to the side.

Kaylee was now right in front of him, with her claws over his chest, ready to go in. Her visor was keeping his from seeing her eyes, but he could see the tears dripping from her chin.

He moved his hands to her visor and gently lifted it. Kaylee's eyes seemed to be drenched in tears as she tried to keep herself from killing Dustin. Her entire body was shaking for control. She wanted to stop, but she couldn't. Dustin cupped her face in his hands and whispered softly.

"I believe in you, Kaylee. I know you can beat this. After all, if I can't tell you what to do, nobody else can, right?"

"I can't do it," Kaylee sobbed, breaking down as fresh tears slid down her face.

Dustin pulled Kaylee in, wrapping his arms around her.

"Yes, you can."

Another sob escaped Kaylee's lips as her hand prepared itself to impale Dustin in the stomach. Hayden saw this from the corner of her eyes as she watched her parents and quickly jumped between them.

The only thing anyone heard in that moment was Hayden's piercing scream as Kaylee's claws dug into her stomach, opening a huge wound as the blood spilled from her body. The young girl dropped into the arms of her father and her mother looked at her sadly.

Kaylee's mothering instincts finally allowed her to override the controls on her body as she dropped down with her husband and daughter. She held Hayden's hand in hers and her other hand cupped Hayden's cheek.

"I'll be okay," Hayden assured her parents as the wound tried to close before she lost too much blood.

"I don't care," Kaylee cried, "I'm so sorry... Hayden, I..."

Dustin pulled Kaylee in closer to the family huddle.

"Well," Ziggy coughed, turning to Blake. "They wanted close family bonding time."

Hayden's wound finally closed up and she looked up at her mother and father. She wrapped her arms around both of them, smiling brightly as she heard Ziggy's comment.

"We are together now," she said. "All it took was a little Venjix."

"Remind me to thank that jackass in person," Kaylee growled, pulling away from her family as the virus and his allies appeared. He had seen Kaylee turn on him and was here to finish the job she started.

Kaylee stood up, clenching her fists. She looked around at her family, sprawled on the ground around her. She knew she was going to need a little help facing Venjix, seeing as they had all weakened her.

RPM was in no condition to battle again after the ass-kicking they got, so Kaylee chose the other team.

"Hey, Ninja and Ove... Overdr... did you guys come up with a team name? You're two different teams! Who the hell do I call you when I need help?"

Dustin laughed, getting to his feet, "Makeshift Rangers," he smiled. "We're a bunch of retired old Rangers put together to make a temporary team."

"Alright you losers," Kaylee giggled, "mind leading a hand to chase the big bad virus home?"

Dustin nodded, popping the disk out of his morpher and handing it to Kaylee. Tori and Blake followed suit.

The Overdrive Rangers powered down and gave their Trackers to the blonde. Kaylee smirked, dropping all the items on the ground and smashing it.

Once broken, the energy was released from the equipment and faded into Kaylee's body. She began to glow as she ran over to Venjix.

"You gave me an upgrade," she smirked. "Let's see just how powerfully I can get now."

Kaylee pulled her arm back and let it go on Venjix' chest. With combined power from her friends and the implants, Kaylee sent Venjix flying over the horizon.

"NEXT!" Kaylee yelled, looking at the allies. Even Tenaya turned to flee after seeing the all powerful Venjix fail with his own creation.

Kaylee smiled as the power faded and she looked down at her hands.

That's when she saw the knuckles were torn up from the battle. Her flesh was gone and underneath was all robotic. She knew that her powers would get rid of it in due time but it was still painful to see. And even though she had overthrown Venjix and his control on her body, she knew he still had that power and he could still cause her to turn on her family at any time.

"I'm a danger..."

"Of course you are," Hayden nodded, coming up behind her mom and hugging her, "You're my mom. I'm scared of doing something bad and you kicking my ass for it!"

Kaylee chuckled wrapped her arms around Hayden.

"It's my job," she smiled, "After all, I did raise you. You're the one daughter no one's taken from me. And no one, not even me, can change that. I love you, Hayden."

"Love you too, mom."


	22. Fight and Forgive

_Author's note: Well, now that Fanfiction is back to normal it's so much easier to post chapters, don't you think? And I don't know about the rest of you, but i was getting real annoyed with the sign in and the alert fail._

_Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. So far, it's my very favourite!_

* * *

Once Kaylee was back on the right team, she and the Makeshifts worked quickly to gather the Rangers into the cars for the way home, and rescue the ones trapped under the debris.

Dillon helped Mack lift the bigger pieces and Hayden and Dani crawled inside. They were the smallest and less likely to get hurt.

From inside, the two girls could see a little clearing where Flynn and Scott were supporting Sam to keep her force field going.

Hayden ran over to Flynn, happy to see he was alive and unharmed (for the most part). He looked at her happily. He could tell from her bright smile that everything was okay, and he knew it had more to do with him being okay.

"You got your mom back, lass?" he asked her, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her.

"Yeah, I had to die to do it," Hayden giggled. She saw Flynn looked down at her in shock, but he quickly shook it off. If he was going to be committed to the girl with spontaneous regeneration and the heart to put her life on the line for others, he had to get used to lines like that.

"Sweet," he smiled.

"C'mon guys, this way out," Dani called, leading Scott and Sam to the exit. Hayden looked at Flynn and nodded. He followed her as Hayden went to assist her tired sister.

"C'mon big butt, Kyle would like for you to remain in one piece for your 'date'."

Scott felt his heart rip in two when he heard Hayden mention a Kyle. Who was this Kyle? Was he Samantha's brother? Highly unlikely, unless Kaylee or Dustin had a secret past. Was he another cousin? If so, why would he be the one mentioned and not someone else?

Scott pulled back, away from Samantha slightly. She belonged to someone else. He couldn't have feelings for her now. But before all this... he could have sworn she was flirting with him. Was she just leading him on?

Once outside, Scott got a look at the Angel as she ran over to her mother for a hug and sighed.

"Let nature run its course, man," Flynn said, slapping his hand on Scott's shoulder.

"What?" Scott frowned.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you weren't crushed when Hayden mentioned a boy in Sam's life," Flynn said, giving Scott a smug smirk. "I saw the way your face fell. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you had feelings for the lass."

"Shut up, Flynn," Scott laughed for Flynn's sake. He didn't want the blue boy to know he was right. It would only cause more drama and a possible fight. And arguments and disagreements was the last thing this team needed.

-----RPM-----

Summer was last to gain consciousness and found her mother by her side, sleeping in a chair next to her, waiting for her to wake up. Every other Ranger had been looked over and fixed up already by Ronny.

Summer sat up as Kira started to stir. The yellow mother smiled at her daughter.

"How you feeling, Screamer?" she asked.

"My head hurts," Summer frowned.

"Yeah, having your head bashed into the wall by your Aunt Kaylee will do that to ya," Kira laughed. "I've been there."

"You have?" Summer asked. "How?"

Ronny heard the two talking from outside and came in quickly to check up on Summer for a concussion. David was at work in the clinic at the moment so she, being the one with the second most experience in this field, was left with the job (Leanne would have done it, but leaving Newtech unguarded for too long was a dangerous thing, so she had to go back).

"I pissed her off when she was pregnant," Kira laughed. "She grabbed my skull and drove it right into the wall. I think it left a dent."

Summer looked at her mother, wide eyed. Kira laughed, hugging her daughter.

"Don't get on her bad side," she warned the girl. "Bad things happen!"

"Apparently," Summer nodded.

"Kira, pissing off Kaylee isn't the problem," Ronny grinned, "I could do the same thing."

The driver stepped out to the garage, grabbed a hammer and walked back. Instantly Kira was ducking behind her daughter, looking at Ronny in a fearful, yet semi-playful manner.

"Don't you dare," Kira frowned, trying to take the hammer away.

"Ever since Operation Overdrive your mom has feared power tools," Ronny giggled, looking over at Summer, who was questioning her mother's fear.

"I do not!" Kira protested, finally getting the hammer away. "I fear you!"

Ronny shrugged and smirked, before turning to go. She knew it had been a while since Summer and Kira had seen each other and knew they needed her moment.

She was also going to enjoy the quiet now that Scott, Ziggy, Greg and Dani were out of the house, and the others were... somewhere else.

Back inside, Kira pulled Summer in close and kissed the top of her head.

"I missed ya, squirt," she smiled. "It's hard living with just one of you."

"How is Sammy, by the way?" Summer asked, looking up. She was still a little hurt that her older sister hated her, but that wasn't going to stop her from caring.

"She's doing fine," Kira nodded, careful with her words. "She misses you."

"No she doesn't," Summer turned away. "She never answers her cell, I never get text messages back from her, and I've sent out a billion e-mails trying to apologize, but never once had I gotten anything back."

Kira squeezed her daughter. She hated being in the middle of this. On one side, she had Sammy, who had forgiven her ages ago but never wanted to speak of her sister. On the other, she had Summer. Summer was the daughter who didn't live with her. She wanted news of Summer almost every day, even if it was just an update of what kind of cereal Summer was having for breakfast. But the fact that she couldn't share information between the two sisters without there being some kind of tension made life hard for Kira. She couldn't express her love for Summer in front of Sammy because of guilt and she didn't like the topic of Sammy in front of Summer because of pain.

"I'm sure that somewhere, behind that tough-girl, I hate my sister façade, there's the little Sammy girl who misses her little sister. You know, the twin sister she could do anything with?"

Summer buried herself in her mother's arms, hiding her tears in her mother's chest. Kira rubbed her daughter's back and whispered.

"You two have been best friends forever; I highly doubt something as little as spandex will get in the way of that."

Summer nodded and pulled away from her mother. She pulled off her RPM jacket and offered it to Kira.

"I've got a spare in my closet," she said, wiping away the tears, "Can you give this one to Sammy and tell her I'm sorry?"

Kira took the jacket and kissed Summer's cheek.

"I'll do better than that, I promise," she said.

Kira hopped off the bed, throwing the jacket over her should and moving to the door. She opened it and smirked, "I really got to go now. The others left ages ago and if I leave your father for too long he's going to revert back to his caveman ways."

Summer nodded and laughed.

"The others are all out doing something else," Kira said, "You're in here on your own with Dr. K and the talk-twins."

Summer laughed once more as she got off the bed to walk her mother out.

As Kira reached the door, she hugged her baby girl and kissed her goodbye. Just before getting in her car, she called out to Summer.

"Oh, and that Black Ranger is CUTE! Where was he at my prom?"

"MOM!" Summer yelled.

"What? If he were there your father and Uncle Hunter wouldn't have stood a chance!"

"MOM!"

"Oh, but then you wouldn't be born..." Kira thought about this for a minute then shrugged. "Meh, he's worth it!"

"MOM!"

"I'm kidding," Kira laughed and waved goodbye, before getting in her car to drive to the tunnel connecting the two cities. "Kinda."

-----RPM-----

"Okay, a strawberry and raspberry lollipop, two Krispy Creams, those are really good, and, of course, the choc-o-doc's, my personal favourite and... oh, Mr. Marshmallows!" Ziggy was grinning like a child as he loaded the grocery basket with candy and junk for the week. Scott was trailing behind him with the basket.

"Ziggy, I don't think this is what Dr. K and Kaylee meant by restocking the fridge!"

"No, I beg to differ," Ziggy smirked, handing the grocery list to Scott. Low and behold, on Dr. K's list there was nothing but sugary snacks, chocolate and the occasional chips. "It seems our sour doctor has a very sweet tooth."

"What about Kaylee's half of the list?" Scott asked, pointing to the line with fruits, vegetables, cereals and meats. "What about that?"

Dani and Greg were on the other side of the store, with the cashier, arguing about which sack of potatoes was better for purchase. Greg wanted to go with the organic, because it wasn't filled with chemicals or other poisonous growth products, but Dani argued, saying the regular potatoes were not only cheaper, but they were bigger and with the number of people they were feeding, it would be a much better purchase and money saver.

Needless to say, the cashier was standing there, waiting for them to come to a decision.

Two men walked into the grocery store and walked in behind the counter, yelling at the cashier to open the register. Dani and Greg were immediately on high alert while Scott and Ziggy watched from a distance.

Well, Scott was.

Ziggy walked up to the counter with a can of whipped cream and a small smile. He tapped the cashier on the shoulder as she handed money to the robbers.

"Excuse me, I hate to be a bother but this whipped cream is way past it's sell by date..."

Dani and Greg joined the cashier to give Ziggy a "wtf" stare as one of the robbers recognised Ziggy.

"Ziggy...?"

"Is that Knuckles Nelson from the Yo-Yo- brothers. I thought Fresno Bob ghosted you a long time ago!"

Knuckles grabbed Ziggy's shirt and lifted him a few inches off the ground.

"But I guess not..." Ziggy continued.

Dani tapped Knuckles on the shoulder and smiled sweetly as he turned around.

"What do you want, babe?" he asked her.

Greg knew what was coming. Dani was a _heads-on_ kinda person. When she saw a problem she dove right into it, not even bothering to analyse the situation for the best solution possible.

"Dani, wait a second, you have too..."

Dani punched Knuckles in the stomach, forcing him to drop Ziggy. Dani smirked, turning to Greg and sticking her tongue out. Greg rolled his eyes at her.

"Okay, so it worked once, but watch this!" he said. He ran in front of her, just as the other robber was about to land his blow on her head. He caught the robber's arm and twisted it back.

"If I go a little further, I could snap his arm," Greg explained, "but by keeping it here, I disable it and give myself full control of the situation."

Dani rolled her eyes.

"So?" she asked. "What's your point?"

"My point is, that I win!"

"No you don't!" Knuckles yelled, finally recovered from the punch. He grabbed Greg around the waist and lifted him up, before throwing him to the ground.

Dani ran over to him and helped him up.

"You see, now because you took your time, Knuckles kicked your ass, and your robber bitch isn't your bitch anymore and he can really kick your ass because, well, no one wants to be your bitch!"

"Oh, so you're saying I should have just run right into the battle without a plan."

"I'm not the one on the floor," Dani pointed out.

"Will you two quit the old couple arguments and help us out here!" Scott yelled as he and Ziggy fought the robbers off.

Dani grinned, jumping into the battle and knocking both robbers on the ground, but they recovered pretty quickly and swung their legs around to hit hers. She tripped as they got up and grabbed her.

"You see, now if you had thought that through you would have noticed that knocking your opponent down means you have to watch out for ground assaults!" Greg said, standing with Scott and Ziggy.

"Just help me out," Dani frowned as she was slung over the robber's shoulder.

"Alright, Scott, Ziggy, you two can..."

Greg trailed off as the robbers ran out of the store.

"No time, c'mon!" Scott yelled, leading the boys on the hunt.

Outside, the robbers were pushing past workers as they ran down a construction lane. Scott motioned for Ziggy and Greg to follow them while he took another route.

The Gold and Green Rangers powered up and jumped to recover lost distance. In the air, Ziggy tried to teleport in front of the robbers, but no such luck.

Instead, he landed with his foot trapped on a lift for the workers. As he hung upside down, the two robbers stopped to stare.

Greg hit his hand to his helmet and looked around for a way to stop the two robbers. He saw empty paint cans and one full one sitting on the side and smirked.

"If I throw these at the right angle, I could hit both the robbers, and still have an extra to dump on Dani."

"GREG!" Dani yelled when she saw the gold Ranger was stalling. He looked over and nodded. He picked up the two empty cans and threw them at the robbers.

Both missed.

Thankfully, Scott appeared on the other side and caught them as the robbers tried to make a break for it. He swung his arms around, hitting the robbers in the head and knocking them out.

As Greg and Scott regrouped and Dani got to her feet, Ziggy looked down at the trio.

"I distracted them," he smiled, "Works every time!"

"Thanks for the help, partner," Dani snapped, wiping the dirt off her RPM jacket.

"Hey, my analysis got you outta this mess!" Greg argued.

"No, it got me into it! If you hadn't of waited so long at the grocery store they wouldn't have grabbed me and run!"

"Okay, but if I didn't stop to think, I wouldn't have seen the paint cans!"

"But your plan failed anyways!"

"No, Scott still used them!"

The only thing to break the Gold and Silver Rangers up, was Ziggy finally getting his foot free and falling on both of them. Scott looked down at the mess and sighed deeply.

He was hoping to avoid drama.

-----RPM-----

"Initiation sky rev configuration test," Dr. K announced over the intercom as the Rangers sat in their respective megazord's. All three stood together in a large clearing in the park as their operators waited for orders.

"In position to attempt combining move!" Scott called. He positioned the High Octane Megazord to stand on one side of the mach Megazord, while Dillon moved the Valvemax to the other side.

"Alright guys, unless this move is co-ordinated perfectly, the bio fields won't allow for synchronisation," Kaylee reminded the nine.

"Don't worry, Aunt K, it's just like riding a bike," Mike smirked.

"So, we all push this button at the same time?" Hayden asked her mother. Kaylee nodded on the other end of the communications.

"Yep, if you don't, you might all go boom!"

"Ooh," Hayden and Dani giggled.

"Dani, no," Greg frowned.

"Oh, and Hayden," Kaylee called before starting the tests. "I still love you."

"Got it mom," Hayden nodded. She knew he mother still felt very guilty about the stabbing, and had been reminded endlessly of her mother's love.

"Pushing button!" Dani called, once again running right into the situation, while Greg wanted to go over the plan once more in his head.

"No, Dani, we go on three. It'll allow for a higher possibility of synchronisation!"

"No, Dani, blah, blah, blah," Dani mocked. "Can I push the button now?" she asked.

"No!"

"Now?"

"NO!"

"Operators, go!" Dr. K ordered, but Dani and Greg were too caught up in their conflict of interests to hear, and timing was off.

The two other Megazords stalled slightly, waiting for a response from the Mach. When nothing came, the Zords were ripped apart and their operators were ejected.

Dani and Greg looked at each other from the little monitors.

"This is all your fault," they growled.

"What a pretty explosion!" Gemma smirked, watching over K's shoulder.

"You said it, Gemma," Gem nodded. "Ka-boom!"

Dr. K seemed to agree, but wasn't happy with the way things worked. She turned on the microphone and growled, "Rangers Gold and Silver, I suggest you work out your conflict of interest soon, or I will be forced to put both of you into early retirement!"

"But then you're down two Rangers!" Greg frowned. "K, you know you can't hurt the team like that!"

"I would work day and night to reconfigure the morphers and put Gem and Gemma in your place! God knows the boom twins wouldn't have any problems working on the team."

Kaylee poked her head around the door, where Ronny was in the garage working on a vehicle for both Dani and Greg (because someone thought it would be a good idea to put the two together in other small space). She sighed deeply.

"Ron, Megazords need to be repairs A.S.A.P!"

-----RPM-----

"Well, safe to say that was a disaster," Flynn sighed, leaning against the kitchen counter with his snack. He looked over at the gold and silver Rangers on the couch. They were arguing over the remote and what they would watch on TV. While Greg made it clear he wanted to watch something educational that would help Dani both in school and in general (he pictured her IQ being way down there), Dani wanted to watch sports or something more thrilling that animals mating.

"It's hard enough trying to control those giant lumbering Megazords, let alone trying to make them all transform into and even... giant-er Megazord! And now the old couple and their arguing is making it even harder!"

"Not our fault!" Dani and Greg both yelled over their shoulders.

Kaylee walked in, wrapping her arms around Hayden as she spoke with the team.

"Dani and Greg never really got along, even before Greg was hijacked for school. They always saw things different," she explained. "Greg was more of a thinker, like he mom. He knows that you can come up with a better solution if you work things out. On paper, the plan seems flawless. More time to analyse and correct mistakes, more battles won."

"So, Greg's right?" Mike asked.

Kaylee shook her head.

"Dani is like her mother as well. She doesn't really want to wait for a plan and prefers diving into a problem. Her reflexes are sharp enough to allow her to do that, maybe even matching Dillon's. By diving into the problem, your opponent doesn't have time to guess your next move, because he's already on the ground. It also means faster battles and..."

"More BOOMS!" Gem and Gemma cut in, happily taking all the candy from the grocery bags and bringing them to Dr. K. Kaylee looked at the junk food, but shrugged it off.

"So, Dani's right?" Hayden asked.

Again, Kaylee shook her head.

"Greg's plan is slower, and as Scott and Ziggy witnessed, it allows for your opponent to get the first move. That could be fatal."

"So, Dani's right?" Mike frowned.

"Dani's plan is quicker, but allows for many mistakes before finding the right one. That means, that with every mistake you make, your opponent gets the upper hand."

"So, Greg's right?" Hayden asked.

The two cousins looked at each other and growled. They didn't like being confused so much.

"I'm not going to say who's right," Kaylee smirked. "I'm going to leave you nine to figure this out. But until you do, Dr. K's in there training Gem and Gemma for possible operator switch."

Kaylee squeezed her daughter, and smiled.

"When, K's determined, she's determined," she smirked.

"Hey, if she could just work day and night to replace operators, why didn't she do that for me?" Ziggy asked. "Not that I really wanted her too... at all, but she hates my guts!"

"She did," Kaylee giggled, "until I reminded her we didn't have another operator."

Kaylee walked away, kissing Hayden as she went. When the mentor was out of the room, Dani seemed to yell something out.

"I don't care how monkeys have sex! I wanna see my uncle's car make the others go boom!"

"They aren't monkeys, they're orang-utans, and maybe you'll be able to learn a thing or two about their lifestyle! They are like humans you know!"

"By lifestyle, do you mean you want me to be better in bed?" Dani frowned. "Because that is disturbing!"

"No, I don't! I want to be able to observe these creatures in their natural habitat! And reproduction is not disturbing, it's a beautiful thing! It keeps life going!"

Dani's face twisted in disgust. She remembered her mother giving her "the talk" and she had despised every minute of it. Not because of what it consisted of, but because during that entire talk, she couldn't stop picturing her parents making her.

Dani stood up, slamming her pillow down on Greg.

"Alright, fine, you win, watch monkeys having sex," she frowned, "but picture this..."

She leaned forward, getting right up in his face as she whispered.

"Your dad on top of your mom, just like the monkeys!"

Dani walked away, proud of herself. Greg turned to yell back.

"They aren't monkeys!"

As he looked back on the TV, where two orang-utans were flirting with each other, he couldn't help but see his mother and father. Suddenly, the picture came into his head. Greg nearly gagged as he turned off the TV and crossed his arms.

"I hate her..."

The others Rangers were watching the whole thing, trying to keep themselves from laughing. Summer, though, had to pull herself out of Dillon's arms.

-----RPM-----

The Rangers had been called into an immediate Megazord battle shortly after the monkey argument. After forming the three core Megazords, they looked over at their opponent as ideas for destruction came to mind.

"I saw we pop it!" Daniela giggled, looking at the balloon attack-bot. "We just get a really pointy thing and *pop* goes the attack bot!"

"No, Dani wait!" Greg called. Dani groaned loudly and slammed her head on the steering wheel. This was really getting old.

"WHAT!?" she yelled.

"What if the gas inside the attack-bot if toxic?" Greg pointed out. "Popping it would unleash it into the dome and possibly destroy all human life!"

"You got to do it once," Dani snapped.

"Ranger Silver, that was a mistake," Dr. K growled. She was starting to hate the Silver Ranger just as much as Greg.

"I know, and I'm sorry, just tell him to stop!" Dani whined.

"You have to think this through!"

"Oh how I would love to drive you into a wall," Dani groaned.

"You can do that later," Scott sighed, "Everyone, fall back into Alpha formation!"

"What is Alpha?" Dani frowned. She had yet to be informed on the different attack formations and had no idea what Scott meant. "You mean that little robot dude that helped my mom's team get their powers back? Is he still around?"

"No... it's... never mind," Scott looked through the monitors at Dani. He couldn't blame her for not knowing. After all, as leader he was supposed to tell her this. "Dillon, Ziggy, get the attack bot out of the city until we come up with a plan to defeat him!"

"Right," the boys nodded. They charged the balloon man, but his balloons expanded and lifted him up in the air.

Dani giggled, pushing her controls forward to slam the Megazord into the attack-both (without popping any balloons because Greg wouldn't let her).

The attack-bot fell back to the ground as the balloon got smaller, and decided it was time to retreat. Dani giggled and looked at Greg.

"Ha."

-----RPM-----

"They aren't monkeys! READ A BOOK!" Greg yelled before Dani slammed her bedroom door closed. After the battle, even if she managed to get the bot out of the city, Dani was still very frustrated with Greg. He never let her do things her own way. After all, who made him boss.

Greg felt the same way. Dani never listened to his orders and always tried to do things her own way. It would get very frustration and was also very dangerous. If she didn't think about her actions, someone was bound to get hurt.

"Hopefully it's Dani," he growled.

Dani flopped down on her bed before hearing a loud inflation noise. She looked over and saw Sam blowing up balloon with a helium tank.

"What are you doing?" she asked the Angel. Sammy turned to her with a smile.

"Going to have a little slumber party in here tonight," Sammy smirked, "Summer's really missing her sister and I thought she could use a little cheering up."

"Cute," Dani smiled. She watched as Sam used the helium to inflate another balloon. "Why pay for air when you can just use your own? Get lightheaded fast?"

Samantha laughed and shook her head. She offered a balloon to Dani to blow up.

"I want the balloons to rise," Samantha explained. "To do that, I need to use something lighter than air."

Dani pretended to be weight down by the heavy air around her. Samantha laughed at her cousin's antics.

"Air isn't all that heavy," she smirked, "but there are things lighter than it. Some gases for example, are much lighter than air. Helium is one of them."

Samantha tied up the balloon and let it go, hitting the ceiling.

"Helium is much lighter than air, so when you fill a balloon up with it, it's going to float."

Dani frowned and tried blowing up her balloon. She tied a knot and let it go.

The balloon sunk to the ground.

"Explain," she said, pointing to her balloon.

"You were breathing out carbon dioxide," Samantha laughed. "It's heavier than air, so it goes down."

"Okay, so if something is filled with something lighter than air, it'll float?"

"Yep."

"So, if I fill Greg's head with helium, he'll float away?" Dani asked hopefully. Samantha nodded, throwing a balloon at Dani.

"You really don't like him, do you?" she asked.

"He's a real pain," Dani sighed. "He's never willing to just risk it and go! He's always gotta make sure he'll be right! But life isn't like that! No risk, no reward!"

"Yeah, but you can't risk everything, Dan," Sam smirked, "Sometimes you do have to think about what's going to happen and how it'll affect the people around you."

"But that's not fun," Dani argued. "Where's the challenge?"

"Well, for you it would be thinking," Samantha laughed.

Dani gave her a hurt and pointed look.

"I'm sorry, kid," Samantha smiled, sitting next to her cousin. "But, maybe Greg has a point. What if, next time, before you go into battle, you think about how to destroy the monster?"

"But that takes too long!"

"I know, but try it," Samantha grabbed a balloon and rubbed it on Dani's hair until it stuck. "That's called static."

"I know that," Dani smirked.

"You look like a balloon monster," Sam giggled, putting another balloon on the red head. Dani tried pushing the Angel away, until she got an idea.

When the younger girl suddenly bolted up and out of the room, Samantha yelled after her.

"Where are you going?"

"Analysing! I think my other half might have a point!"

-----RPM-----

Dani was hard at work on the computer. She was looking up information for destroying the balloon bot. She had an idea on what kind of gas was inside, but needed to make sure she wouldn't hurt the city.

Four different kind of gases kept popping up and Dani was growing tired. She needed an answer and she needed one fast.

When the monitor switched to that of the attack-bot coming back, she decided to go back to her old ways.

"No risk, no reward," she told herself, throwing on her jacket and running off.

-----RPM-----

Dani met up with the regular sized monster in the middle of the city.

"Hot-head's back," she smirked, dropping into a defensive pose. The bot did the same before the two charged.

Dani tapped into her super speed to get the upper hand, but the monster inflated it's balloon and floated up. Dani came to a stop and turned around, looking up.

"So it's lighter than air," she smirked. "Good."

-----RPM-----

Gem and Gemma bounced into the garage happily, catching the Ranger's attention.

"Hey, did you guys see..."

"... the attack bot in the city..."

"... fighting Dani?"

The Rangers dropped what they were doing and looked up at the twins, before looking at the monitors. Gem turned them on.

Dani was on the screen, fighting the balloon bot.

"Dammit!" Greg yelled, grabbing his jacket. "She's going t destroy that thing, and she doesn't even know what's in it!"

"I don't want to take sides, but I think I agree with Granddad Gold," Scott frowned.

"Well then, let's stop her!" Hayden agreed, pulling out of her mother's arms (Kaylee's guilt and love was really getting annoying).

-----RPM-----

"Dani wait!" Greg yelled, arriving in the park just before Dani was about to pop the monster's main balloon. Dani growled menacingly and turned to her partner, a little surprised the others were all backing him up.

"What?" she snapped. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"You can't just destroy the bot without thinking about consequences! What if..."

Dani ignored her leader (gold was leader after all between the two metallic colours. Dani just refused to admit it). The young race car driver turned back to the battle and drove her weapon into the main balloon, popping it.

All the other balloons followed suit, popping and releasing the gas. An explosion happened shortly after, knocking Dani back to the others. Greg ran forward and caught her in his arms.

"You're such an idiot!" he yelled, throwing her back to her feet. "That gas could kill us all!"

Dani growled, but it wasn't her regular growl. It sounded like she had swallowed Alvin, or some other chipmunk. The Silver ranger started to giggled, and it sounded high-pitched.

Greg couldn't help but laugh as he heard this.

"Helium," he smirked. "This whole time it was filled with helium."

"What do you know?" Dani giggled, enjoying her new voice.

"Wait, you mean, you didn't know?" Greg frowned.

"Nope," Dani shook her head, still giggling. "I knew it was something lighter than air, but after doing a little research, I saw there were some gases that were dangerous. But when the attack bot started in the park, I figured I should just go for it. No risk, no reward."

"Well, you were lucky," Greg frowned. "You should have waited..."

"Then how much damage do you think would have been done?" Dani asked. "Admit it, I am a little reckless, but it's a good thing sometimes."

"Never. It never..."

"How did you know I was out here anyways?" Dani asked.

"I saw you fighting the monster on the monitors."

"Let me guess, as soon as you did you bolted to scold me?"

Greg went to answer, but stopped. He had no idea he had acted on instinct, without so much as a second thought.

"You're lucky I did or no one would have caught you," he smirked.

"Look, if I promise to think a little longer before attacking, do you promise not to analyse so much when you need to fight?" Dani asked.

Greg nodded, "I promise."

"So, we do this together?"

"Seems to work best," Greg smirked.

"This is all great, and I'm glad the grandparent's aren't getting a divorce, but can we focus on the balloon bot that's back for Mega-Action?" Hayden asked.

"_Rangers, you'll need to combine the Megazords if you want to get enough power to seriously pop this monster!"_ Dr. K announced._ "You'll have to hit the main balloon, but you'll have to do it fast!"_

Scott called the Megazord and the nine sat in their seats, hands over the button.

"Ready in three, two, one!" he yelled.

The Rangers pushed the button, all at once, to combine the three Megazords.

As it happened, Greg took this time to quickly analyse the monster and locate the balloon. By the time he was sitting with the others he had a plan.

"Guys, hit the top balloon with everything you got!" he yelled.

"You already have a plan?" Dillon asked.

"Quick thinking," Greg smirked.

"Are you sure it's going to work?" Scott frowned.

"It's all I've come up with so far!"

"Care to think a little longer?" Flynn asked.

Greg looked over at Dani on the other side of the cockpit. She turned to him and smiled under the helmet.

"Hey, no risk, no reward!"

"And after all, if we hit the wrong one, we just try again," Dani added. "The main one is just a faster way of winning this battle!"

"Alright, blasting top balloon! Brace for squeakiness!" Hayden called, pulling the controls for the blaster in the Megazord. Now that there were more Zords in the great, big lumbering monster, there was more power to draw from and the blast was much stronger.

One quick hit, and the balloon pop was popped.

"YES!" Dani cheered, watching the explosion. Gem and Gemma had a similar reaction back at the base.

"Great job team," Scott praised as the helium started to take effect. The others started giggled at his high voice, before realising they had it as well.

"ZWOP!" Hayden yelled in her squeaky voice. "ZWOP! ZWOOP!"

Dillon leaned back in his seat, happy his respiratory system was only half human.

"I'm glad I don't have to worry about this," he said.

Ziggy punch him in the shoulder and doubled over in mad fits of giggled.

"Oh my god!" he laughed through tears. "Dillon, SQUEAK!"

"I do... oh no..." Dillon frowned, hearing his own voice and the squeakiness of it.

"You sounds so... not dangerous!"

Dillon glared at Dani. Blowing up the monster was her idea.

"I'm going to kill you!" he growled, but it only caused Dani to fall out of her seat, holding her stomach as she giggled (high pitched as well).

"You and what army?" she asked. "Alvin?"

-----RPM-----

"Alright, so how did you figure that monster out?" Greg asked his partner as the Rangers returned to base and got ready for bed. Their voices were all back to normal, much to the dismay of the two Greens, Pink, Silver and Yellow Rangers.

"I did a little analysing," Dani smirked, grabbing a balloon that had strayed from the bedroom. Hayden and Sam were already up there, getting the sleeping bags out and pushing the beds against the wall for more room. Gemma was on her way up to join, along with Dr. K and bags of candy.

Kaylee and Ronny were also in the room already. Everyone was waiting for Sam.

"Well," Greg smiled, patting Dani on the back, "Working together is much better than arguing."

"Great, now I'm zwopped," Summer yawned. Dillon hugged her quickly, letting her go to bed.

Dani knew she had to follow the yellow Ranger, so pretended to yawn as well. She turned to leave, until Greg called for her.

"Dani, wait!"

Dani growled, turning to look back at him.

"You.... uh..." Greg scratched the back of his neck nervously. "You did a good job out there."

"Thanks," Dani smiled brightly, happy Greg was finally praising her for a job well done. He had never done that before (and not just because he had missed out on twelve years of her life). "But, you did pretty good out there too. I didn't know someone as uptight as you would break your own set of rules."

Greg laughed a bit, "Yeah well, the city was at risk."

"A smart man like you should have known I would never put this city in danger," Dani grinned.

Greg smiled. Dani called him smart, and actually meant it. Out of all the people he knew, she was the only one to never call him smart. He knew she knew he was, but she never showed it. When Greg was around her, even with all the arguing, he didn't feel like a super-smart genius. He kinda felt normal. Maybe it was because she didn't seem to grasp the simple concept, and Greg was always stuck explaining addition to her.

It also helped that she never thought of him as some kind of super computer. And after living in the Soup for years, he kinda needed it. In a way, it felt like, when she called him smart, or mentioned his intelligence, she humanized it.

"I guess I should have figured," Greg chuckled. "But I took the risk today and followed your plan."

Dani nodded and smirked. She knew she had feelings for Greg and that's why she always hated him. She hated when he put her down, told her she was stupid or worthless. It always made her so mad to know the little brat thought of her as a lower form of human. Even as four year olds Dani had a little puppy crush on him and hated it when he insulted her. It felt good to know that he was finally letting go.

Dani yawned once more, this time for real, and went upstairs, joining the party. As she walked inside, she saw Summer was smiling for her friend, but she was playing with the necklace her sister had given her on their sweet sixteen.

She didn't know the whole story behind the twin fight, but she knew she had to cheer up the yellow Ranger.

"INCOMING!" she yelled, diving into the circle of girls, knocking the candies all over.

-----RPM-----

Kira got home late that night and went to Sam's room right away. She knocked on the door and walked in, finding Sam on her bed. The girl was pulling her hands out from under her pillow quickly and had a look as if she was hiding something.

Kira ignored this and sat down on the bed beside her daughter. She put the jacket in Sam's lap.

"I thought you would like to know your Aunt's doing fine," Kira smiled. "A little wired still, but all in all, she's still good."

Samantha laughed slightly, looking down at the jacket.

"Your sister wanted you to have it," Kira explained. "It's a little gift from her. She misses you, you know."

"Well, she can shove her apology, and her jacket, up her..."

"Sam," Kira frowned. "I know you're mad, but she's your sister. When I left she was in tears because she missed you!"

Kira reached to the end table and grabbed her daughter's phone.

"Fifty unread messages?" she asked. "All from this week and from Summer?"

"So?" Sam asked.

Kira put the phone down and pulled Sammy into a hug.

"Sweetie, I know it hurts that your baby sister was chosen for the spandex, but she's still your sister."

"She doesn't need me," Sam frowned.

"She's your little sister, and she's missing you more than you'll ever know!" Kira smiled. "She's always looked up to you, you know that."

"Yeah," Sam nodded.

"Look, you don't have to forgive her, but at least let her know you're still alive," Kira smiled, pointing to the phone. "Answer one message? She's hurting a lot without you."

Sam turned away. Kira moved with her and looked her in the eyes.

"I held her, just like I am with you after she woke up! She asked me about you, I didn't bring it up! She's worried about you still, and she still loves you! Can't you return it, even a bit? She's your sister!"

"Mom..."

"No, Sam,' Kira interrupted when she heard the slight harsh tone, "Summer cried because she missed you, and she knows she hurt you. She's hurting because of you Sam, because this thinks you hate her. And, I don't know about you, but if my little sister was hurting, I would do anything to help her."

"You don't have a sister," Samantha frowned, hiding her tears.

Kira glared at her daughter.

"Then who the hell is the woman taking care of your sister?" Kira asked.

"Right," Sam nodded.

Kira walked over, quickly kissing her daughter's cheek.

"Just, find a way to let Summer know you're alive. You don't have to forgive her just yet, but it would be nice if she knew you weren't totally out of her life."

Samantha waited for her mother to be gone before reaching under her pillow and pulling out a necklace, similar to the one Summer had been playing with back in Corinth. Summer had given it to her for her sweet sixteen, and every time Sam saw it, it reminded her of her sister.

Sam also reached over and grabbed the jacket, hugging it close. She caught a small whiff of it and burst into tears. It smelt so much like her sister, it felt like the younger girl was right there with her.

Sam put the jacket on and zipped it up before curling into bed to sleep. Before closing her eyes, she picked up the phone.

At the moment, a text message didn't seem like enough. She knew Summer was hurting, bad, and she knew she had to fix it.

She dialled the number for Summer's cell and waited for her twin to pick up.

Three rings went by, and Sam waited. After three rings, Summer always picked up her phone. If the forth one happened, that meant Summer was letting it go to voicemail.

The fourth ring was heard, and Sam pulled the phone away from her ear, ready to hang up.

"_Hello?"_ she heard faintly. Quickly, she pressed the phone back to her ear and smiled.

"Summer? It's Sammy..."


	23. Sunset Kisses

"VACATION!" Ziggy screamed at the top of his lungs as he grabbed his floaty dolphin toy and hopped out of the Go-onger long before Ronny put the bus in park. Ziggy, however, couldn't contain his excitement and was already half way to the water by the time the others were unloading the stuff for the beach.

Kaylee pulled her surfboard out, then caught a glimpse of Hayden and stuffed it back in. She still felt very guilty about stabbing her daughter, and couldn't bear to leave Hayden's side and miss a chance at showing her daughter just how much she loved her.

"Hey, lass, think you can show me how to use that contraption?" Flynn asked his girlfriend. He was hoping that a surfing lesson would give him some much needed alone time. Hayden nodded, grabbing her pink board. Kaylee saw this as a chance and grabbed her green board.

"I'll tag along with you," she smiled. "Haven't been in the water for ages!"

Flynn seemed a little upset, but he didn't let it show. He just smiled brightly, allowing his girlfriend's mother to tag along. After all, how close could she stay once they were in the water?

Dani pulled out a bunch of sand toys from the storage unit at the bottom of the bus, and Mike grabbed them from her to bring to Ziggy so they could play in the sand. Dani didn't mind that her toys were stolen though, because she saw Greg setting up his spot on the sand not too far away and wanted to spend a little time with him. Maybe get to know him for who he truly was and not some pompous, smart-mouth, know-it-all.

After recent events, Dani felt herself falling harder for Greg than she ever thought possible. After her puppy love before Greg was taken away, Dani didn't even stop thinking about him and what could of been. Every once in a while she would get letters from him, but they never seemed all that personal. It was always something along the lines of "_How have you been? I've been good. I'm working hard here at the School. Keep in touch"._

Now that she knew he was accepting her, she was ready to try something new.

Greg saw Dani walking over to him and tried to make a break for it before she got to close and knew he was running from her. He liked her, and cared for her deeply, but he couldn't handle these emotions yet and was afraid of hurting her. All he needed was a little time away from her to sort out his feelings and get down to what he wanted to tell her.

Dani saw Greg jump up from his beach chair and run to the doctor to help her set up the abnormally large umbrella.

Maybe she would talk when he wasn't so busy.

"I hate the outdoors," K growled, finally getting the umbrella to stay up straight so she wouldn't have to worry about the sun on her skin. She knew the damage even a little sun could do, and preferred to stay away from it.

That, and she was still a little traumatized from the Soup to be able to enjoy time in the sun.

Gem and Gemma ran over to her, with a plastic bag full of very tiny explosives. Dr. K lowered her sunglasses as she looked at the Boom-twins.

"We're going to..."

"... set these off and see how..."

"... big of a boom the sand..."

"... makes!" they both grinned. Dr. K looked around for civilians, but saw the Rangers had this section of the beach to themselves.

"Go for boom time," she smiled to the two, letting them go on their path of total destruction. They hopped by Scott, who was still in a fool mood. He had yet to tell anyone why though, but Dr. K knew that whatever it was, was eating him to the core.

Scott sunk down in the sand in front of K to watch the water. That's when Samantha walked up to him. The Angel tried to sit down next to Scott, but K could tell just by their body language something wasn't right.

"Hey," Samantha smiled. Scott looked up at her, giving her a kinda of cold glare that sent shivers down Samantha's spine, even in the ninety degree weather. "Whoa, okay I thought my Aunt was the ice queen. What's got your butt cheeks frozen?"

"It's nothing, okay," Scott growled.

"Oh, yeah, nothing does tend to freeze ass," Sam chuckled. She sat next to Scott, but he scooted over. Sam tried again, but Scott moved over again.

"Apparently, I'm nothing," Samantha frowned, getting up and turning away. "Did I do anything? Scott, you know I'll listen to whatever you have to say."

"Hey, Sam!" someone called, waving at the Angel.

"Kyle!" Samantha smiled, hugging the boy, Kyle, who Scott assumed was her boyfriend.

Samantha looked down at Scott after the hug and frowned, "Well, when your butt cheeks warm up, let me know," she said.

Kyle gave his girlfriend an odd look.

"Don't mind it," Samantha laughed. "I don't really get it either."

Summer and Dillon were playing in the shallow waters, splashing each other and trying to knock the other person under. Summer had taken her phone with her, happy the thing was fully waterproof and every once in a while she would stop the game to answer the text she received.

Ever since her sister called her, Summer had been glued to her phone and over the moon. The two twins were trying hard to patch things up between them, and the only way was to talk it out. Dillon was being patient through the whole thing, never once complaining about Summer's divided or sometimes lack of attention for him. He knew how important it was to reconnect with the people from your past and he wasn't about to take that away from Summer.

Summer put her phone back on her hip and looked up at Dillon. She could see the patience and understand in his eyes and wanted to reward it, even just a little. So, she ran over to him and jumped into his arms, wrapped her legs around his waist. Dillon was thrown back by the momentum and the two landed in the water, nearly hitting the sandy bottom before surfacing in a kiss.

"Note to self: patience is totally a virtue and totally worth it!" Dillon grinned.

Back on the beach, the water wasn't such a fun tool for a certain Green Ranger trying to work on sand castles. Every time Mike got one up, a wave would crash down on it and take it in. It took a while before Mike decided moving up was a better idea. Unfortunately that would make his castles a prey for the Boom twins.

Ziggy was having better luck in the lighter sand. He could dig until he reached sand easier to mold and a lot stronger, and cover it with the beautiful white sand.

His castle was almost done. He just had to carefully lift the bucket up, then he could show Dr. K and impress her with his building skills.

Ziggy sucked the air in through his teeth as he pulled the bucket. When the green toy was fully removed, a beautiful tower stood erect in the sand.

"Look, Dr. K! I built this awesome tower!" he smirked.

Dr. K lowered her glasses and looked at Ziggy.

"Your sand castles suck," she frowned, going back to her book. Ziggy looked down at it, a little saddened.

"Um, doc, what's wrong with it, exactly?" he asked her.

"Well, for starters, it lacks a decent foundation that can support it in any weather. How do you expect something so flimsy to stand?"

Dr. K looked up at Ziggy, spotting his slim body, noodle arms and chicken legs.

"I stand corrected," she frowned.

"Okay, so I need a better foundation?" Ziggy asked.

"Not only that, but do you really expect a castle made out of sand to stand? I give that three five minutes before it starts crumbling under its own weight."

"So flimsy and weak," Ziggy said, "Anything else doc?"

"Well, the castle also lacks protection. If you want to be accurate on your designs then you must build a moat around the tower to protect it from intruders, otherwise all that hard work is going to fall."

"Okay, flimsy, weak and defenceless..."

"Also it..."

"Okay, I get it," Ziggy interrupted the doctor. "And I have a new idea!"

"You do?"

"You're going to love this next one doc!"

As Ziggy turned back to his castle, it suddenly blew up, throwing sand everyone.

"BOOM!"

"BANG!"

KA-POW!"

The boom-twins high-fived happily before running to find their next victim.

Ziggy spit the sand out of his mouth and growled, before shrugging it off and getting back to work.

Ronny was sitting on her own, watching everything unfold and laughing at the drama. Since her years as a Ranger, she realised her family was much more interesting that TV.

She grabbed a handful of popcorn and watched on, laughing at the explosions and comical Ranger moments, and watching in awe at the heartbreaking and painful moments.

Flynn was seriously starting to question the size of the ocean as Kaylee rode past him and crash right beside him and Hayden, coming up between them. He knew the one in Corinth was nothing compared to what used to exist, but it had to be bigger than a square foot, right? Hell, Summer and Dillon were more spaced out that he and Kaylee were. No, scratch that, Summer and her phone had more room between them than him and Kaylee.

"Hayden, you have got to get out there, you're missing all the good waves!" Kaylee called, pushing her surfboard in closer as she spoke with her daughter.

"Um, mom, I'm kinda giving Flynn a lesson," Hayden pointed out.

"Oh," Kaylee smirked, winking at her daughter. "I get it, you want to be alone!"

Kaylee pulled away and Flynn could finally breath again.

"Well, sweetheart, I'll just be out there in the water. If you need anything at all, or if your stomach starts randomly hurting again, just give me a shout and I'll be right over, okay?"

"Okay," Hayden nodded, waving goodbye to her mother.

"I love you!"

"I love you too, mom!"

"Be careful!"

"I will!"

When Kaylee hopped back up on her board to go back out into the ocean, Hayden dunked herself in the water, holding her hands to her throat. Flynn laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her up.

"I know she loves you and feels guilty and all, but don't you think this is a little...?"

"Bubble wrap?' Hayden asked.

"Yeah," Flynn nodded. Hayden grabbed her throat again and tried to dunk herself, but Flynn held her up.

"Okay, I get it," he laughed. "At least she's gone now."

"Please, she's a mother who stabbed her daughter in the stomach and caused me endless pain and suffering for two minutes, she's never going to be gone, or even done reminding me she still loves me."

"I say we ditch her then," Flynn smirked, getting up on the board. Hayden laughed and pushed him back to shore. Flynn tried to stand up once, but fell over into the water half way there. Hayden took this as her chance to steal his spot and ride a baby wave back in.

Mike groaned impatiently as Gem and Gemma blew up another one of his castles. He found the little explosive they planted when his back was turned and threw it into the water. This time, he was going to keep his eye on his castle until he was finished! He wasn't going to let the boom-twins catch him off guard again!

Dani walked along the beach until she found Greg lying in the sand. She sat next to him and poked his stomach. Greg squirmed slightly, pulling off his sunglasses and spotting Dani. He felt his heart race. He wasn't ready to talk with her yet.

"Hey, chicken, what's roasting?" she asked.

"My skin in the sun," Greg frowned, getting to his feet. Dani stood up with him, hoping for a walk on the beach, just to talk.

"Ouch, you know, sunscreen could help."

"I know, Dani," he smiled. How could he forget sunscreen?

"So, think we can talk?" Dani asked, speeding up her pace as Greg did. "Because, you know, our moms are best friends and all, and I'm sure they would love it if we..."

"Actually, Dani, I think I'm going to rest in the bus," Greg said. "Can we rain check?"

Dani stopped and looked up at Greg. "Um, yeah, sure... I guess so..."

Greg could not only hear, but see the hurt look on Dani and knew he had to think fast. Hopefully some alone time in the bus would get his brain working.

Dillon carried Summer up to the towels and dropped her down. Summer wrapped herself in her yellow one, keeping her warm. Dillon put the black one on his back, then pulled Summer on his lap. He wrapped her up tight and held her in his arms as the two started kissing.

Hayden and Flynn walked up next to them, totally unnoticed by the pair. Hayden tilted her head to the side, then reached out and poked Dillon in the forehead. The sudden and slightly forceful push, knocked the black and yellow Rangers over.

"Sorry to interrupt, but when the resident brooding bad-boy starts getting all lovey-dovey, I get creeped out," Hayden smirked. She grabbed her pink towel and sat down on it. "Especially when it's with my cousin."

Flynn sat next to Hayden and laughed as Summer and Dillon recomposed themselves. Suddenly, Summer's phone went off. She excused herself to answer it, leaving Dillon with Hayden and Flynn.

"So, it looks like you and Summer are doing well," Flynn smirked, pulling Hayden on his lap.

"Yeah," Dillon nodded, sneaking a glance at her. He was still in total shock that he found her and they were reunited for good.

"And it looks like you're being very patient with this whole texting and phone call thing," Hayden smiled.

"Well, patience is a virtue," Dillon grinned.

"Yeah, and if it gets anymore virtuous, you two are going to end up in bed together by the end of the day," Hayden smirked.

Dillon shifted uncomfortably until Summer got back. Now the awkward sex talks would stop, and regular teenage conversations would begin.

Sadly, Dillon had forgotten there was a fine line between sex talk and teenage conversation.

Kaylee was in the water, lying on her board as she watched her daughter and Summer. Her cell phone went off suddenly (you can't expect a former water ninja to not carry around a water proof cell phone).

"Hey, Sam, you talk to her yet?" Kaylee asked.

"_Yeah, I told her everything's cool between us and we should hang out sometime."_

"You didn't tell her you were dropping by next week though, did you?" Kaylee asked.

"_And ruin the surprise? No way! I'll be over in a week at noon!"_

Kaylee smiled and hung up the phone. One problem down, now for another.

She knew she had been smothering Hayden lately, but there was really no other way to let Hayden know she still loved her and felt really sorry.

Suddenly, a stray bomb from Gem and Gemma's bag (which had ended up in the water when Mike tripped them for revenge) went off, pushing Kaylee all the way back to shore, where Ronny was just chilling with popcorn.

"Maybe give her some breathing room," Ronny suggested as Kaylee wash up beside her. The blond spat the water out of her mouth and looked up, confused.

"Huh?"

"That problem where you're choking Hayden? Give her a little space. She seems to hate the TLC."

"Fine," Kaylee frowned. She took Ronny's towel (the yellow Ranger wasn't going to use it) and wrapped it around herself.

"So, what are we watching?"

"Channel Ziggy," Ronny smirked. "His fifth attempt at impressing K with a castle."

Dr. K looked at the newest castle in the sand and frowned. Once again, it was all wrong.

"No, Ziggy, the base of the castle must be larger than the top if you want stability!"

Ziggy looked down at his upside down castle. He thought for sure something this hard, complicated and fancy would impress her. He was wrong.

"Why don't you come out here and make it then?" he asked her.

"Because, my skin isn't used to the sun's harmful rays and will be severely burned if I step out of the shade."

"Um, Doc, one thing you and your soup buddies keep forgetting... the sun's not real!"

"Oh..." K frowned, looking up, past the tip of the parasol. She spotted the light making the artificial sun. "Well, I just don't like the outdoors."

"But you came to the beach?"

"No, I was dragged out here," K frowned. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to return to my reading!"

"Alright, but when I make a better castle, I'll..." Ziggy felt sand hit his back and knew what happened. Boom-twins got him again.

Dr. K had a small smile on her face as his lasted castle exploded.

Gem and Gemma grinned like children then looked down in their bag. There were only five explosives left. It was time for them to end their day with a bang!

They dug a small hole in the sand and buried the explosives. They ran behind a bush and hid, waiting for someone to step over it.

Samantha and Kyle were enjoying building streams and ponds in the lake, but Samantha had a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. Scott was still sitting all alone with a hurt look, and he kept glaring at Kyle. Samantha felt a little guilty for the way Scott was feeling. She did kinda of have feelings for him, and maybe spending so much time with him would lead him to believe something would happen...

Because Sam and Kyle wanted to stay far from the boom-twins, they were bordering the area reserved for the rangers, and dipping in slowly to where the rest of the people on the beach were, including hot girls in bikinis waving at the sandy blonde hair man Sam was with. Samantha never really seemed to notice though. Kyle would keep a low profile when Sam was focused on him, but as soon as she had her back turned, he would look up at the girls and wave back at them. The occasional "super hot" girl would get a wink and a wave.

Scott saw this from where he was sitting and couldn't believe Sam wanted to be with someone so unfaithful. How the hell could Kyle have an Angel all to himself and go after the tramps?

But he wasn't going to interfere. It was clear Sam chose Kyle over him. If that's how she wanted things to be, that's how he was going to leave then.

Samantha finally decided to look at what exactly was making Scott frown so much as Kyle and turned quickly. That's when she saw him licking his lips, winking and waving at all the other girls on the beach. The Angel growled at her boyfriend.

"So, that's what you do at the beach?" she asked.

"What babe?" Kyle asked, turning back to her, as if nothing ever happened.

"You know, I could forgive you for looking every once in a while. I know you men like bikinis and chicks... but what you're doing...."

Sam couldn't even pronounce her next few words. She decided to grab the bucket she and Kyle had been using for water and dumped it all over him before storming off.

As she did, she made the mistake of looking back. She hoped Kyle would be totally hurt and understand he needed to stop. But that look over her shoulder proved her wrong. Kyle was still flirting, getting women to bring him their towels to dry him off.

Sam walked over to Scott and sunk down beside him.

"I hate him," she frowned, on the verge of tears.

"How long have you been going out?" Scott asked.

"Three years," Samantha answered, looking up at Scott. "He's and Angel just like me... went to the Pai Zhuq until he was ten and died when his neck was snapped. We met, were best friend and started going out three years ago... Apparently now that he's with other women, I'm nothing to him."

"Patience with him maybe?" Scott suggested. He wasn't really all the interested, and he couldn't care less.

"Please, I'm not stupid," Sam frowned. "Every girl we see pretty much bows down at his feet. If he's flirting now, when my entire family is here to watch, then why the hell wouldn't he flirt then?"

"Maybe you're being hard on him?" Scott asked. "Why not just got back to him and pretend like nothing ever happened. Or better yet, lead him on then dump his ass!"

"Why would I... oh, I get it," Sam smirked. She moved in closer to Scott then wrapped her arms around him when he tried to move away. "You're totally jealous!"

"No? Why would I be?" Scott asked.

"Because, I'm torn between Sir. Jerk the Jackass and you," Samantha grinned. "And, now that Sir. Jackass is out of the way, there's nothing standing between you and me."

Samantha pushed Scott down in the sand and rested her head on his chest.

"You know, I think, somewhere, deep down inside me, I just wanted an excuse to dump Kyle to be with you," Samantha giggled. "I've always kinda liked you Scott, sorry for making you wait."

Scott smiled and wrapped his arms around Sam.

"Let's see, you haven't even officially talked to Kyle, or even clued him in about a break up, and you're already with me? This seems rushed," he said. "Shouldn't you give the poor bastard a chance?"

Samantha looked back at Kyle, basking in the lust of the girls.

"Naw, let the poor bastard figure it out on his own," she laughed. "Oh, but as a warning, meeting my Angel mother... not a piece of cake."

"I've meet her before," Scott frowned.

"Yeah, but she was more preoccupied with my family. She's way overprotective about me and men."

Ziggy finished making the biggest and best sandcastle he could. It was close to six feet high, eight feet wide and the little green Ranger could stand inside it.

This was something Dr. K could not put down.

"Ranger Series L-Green, your sand castle is blocking my perfect view of the ocean!" Dr. K frowned, glaring at Ziggy.

"But... it's perfect!" Ziggy said! "Don't you want to marvel at the perfect foundation, strong walls, solid defences and its crocodile filled moat?"

"No, I would rather watch the sunset on the ocean. Move your castle over!"

"But... I can't move it!"

"Well, then take it down!"

Ziggy frowned, kicking his castle. It didn't fall.

"SEE!" he called to the doc. She just growled. Ziggy sighed and made quickly work of destroying his pride and joy.

When he was done, he sat on the pile of sand and frowned. The sun was setting though, and the view of it all made things a little better.

Ziggy turned and looked back for a second at the doc and saw her eating a bag of candy. He scooted up beside her.

"Mind if I have a few?" he asked.

"Yes," K frowned.

"Okay, how about one?" he asked.

"No," K shook her head, pulling the candy away.

"Well, can I just sit here with you and watch the sunset?" he asked. Dr. K nodded, and Ziggy sat comfortable beside her. He tried moving his hand over her shoulder slowly so she wouldn't notice.

But she did.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"I'm... just... uh... seeing if it's warmer on your right side," he said, covering up his mistake.

"And is it?" K asked.

"Is it... what?"

"Warmer on my right side?"

"Oh... uh no..."

"Then why would you think otherwise?"

"Because... oh never mind!"

Ronny watched the whole thing in awe. She had to admit, they were kinda cute together. Too bad Dr. K was so cold.

Mike was sitting in the sand, watching the sunset with his arm wrapped around his perfect castle. He had managed to keep it safe from explosions and death. He was proud.

Summer and Dillon had split from Hayden and Flynn to watch the sun on their own. Summer's cell phone suddenly vibrated, but she let it go unanswered. When Dillon looked down at her questioningly, she just smiled and kissed him.

"Our time," she said.

Greg had spent hours now just pondering over his emotions for Dani, and he was still no better off. He walked off the bus and saw her sitting alone on the beach. He could tell, even from behind, that she was close to crying about something.

"No risk, no reward," he muttered to himself.

Dani was on the verge of tears as she sat on her own, watching the sunset. She was mad at herself for waiting for Greg, instead of just going after him. Now he was ignoring her and pushing her away. She tried to bend for him and take things a little slower so he wouldn't freak out, but it had failed.

Suddenly, she felt someone place a warm blanket over her shoulders and turned to see Greg sitting next to her.

"Hey," she whispered, wiping away the tears.

"Dani, I don't wanna talk," he told her.

Dani nodded, "Yeah, I understand... I kinda..."

Greg shut her up by pressing his lips to hers and pulling her into a kiss. Dani placed her hand behind his neck and pulled him in deeper.

When they finally broke for air, Greg pulled Dani and held her close.

"I spent all day looking over my emotions and feelings and I got nowhere," he explained. "So, I decided to jump right in, see what would happen."

"And?" Dani asked, looking up.

"I think... I love you."

Dani smiled, wrapping the blanket around Greg so they were both under it. She also wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in.

"I love you too."

Kaylee nudged Ronny and pointed to Greg and Dani. Ronny's gaze shifted from Dr. K and Ziggy, to her daughter and Greg and her jaw hit the floor in awe.

"That is so cute!" she smiled. Dani and Greg were wrapped in each other's arms under the blanket, watching the sunset.

As Ronny kept her eye on Dani (for cuteness and mothering reasons), Kaylee turned to Flynn and Hayden and saw them cuddling together in the middle of the entire circle of friends.

Hayden was kinda playing in the sand as she sat on Flynn's lap. Neither one of them were really watching the sunset. Hayden was too busy with the sand and holding Flynn's hands to notice, and no matter how beautiful Flynn thought the sunset was, it couldn't compare to Hayden.

The pink ranger found a twig in the sand, giving her more of a reach. She started poking the sand further away, until she hit something hard.

All of a sudden, fireworks burst out of the sand, lighting up the sky for everyone to enjoy. Hayden and Flynn jumped back a bit for safety.

"I didn't know there were fireworks, did you?" Gem asked his sister.

"No, I didn't."

"Oh well!" the twins giggled. "BOOM!"

_Author's note: Okay, this chapter didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, but better. And now that all the drama is behind the Rangers, they can look past it and start anew (and not step in manure)._

_Hope you guys enjoy it and let me know what you think of the couples. I think they've all been established now in some way or another._


	24. I Will Be

"Standstill!" Greg frowned as Kaylee tried her best to stand still for the scan. She and Greg were working in the lab, hoping to find a quick fix to Kaylee's robotic problem.

Dani was watching from a chair, growing very impatient. Greg now loved Dani to pieces and was ready to do anything for her, but she was a very impatient young lady. Even she admitted to it. Her mother's need for speed had definitely not skipped over her.

"Is the scan almost done?" Dani asked, trying to sounds as polite and patient as possible. But in the few days Greg knew her, he already could pick up on her impatience.

"If Kaylee would stop squirming," Greg frowned, looking at his mentor.

"Not my fault these scanners tickle!" Kaylee said, avoiding another one. Purple was really bad, it made her giggle more than the others.

Five minutes later, Greg got all the information he needed and put the files on a clipboard to show Kaylee.

"Well, you're still 95% robotic," he said sadly. "One percent lower than when you came home, but nothing's changed from yesterday."

"But I am still healing, right?" Kaylee asked.

Greg nodded, "Continuously, but not at the same rate Hayden did."

"I heard she spit up entire robot parts!" Dani laughed.

"She did," Greg smiled. "Kaylee's body is... working at decomposing it."

"Like the compost?" Dani frowned.

"Yeah. Instead of puking it out, it's dying inside and rebuilding her human parts anew."

"Anew?" Kaylee asked. "Am I going to pull a Karly?"

"Not quite," Greg laughed.

"So, what does this mean about Venjix and controlling Aunt Kaylee?" Dani asked. She knew Kaylee was going to try and avoid that question, but it was one that had to be asked.

"Until she goes down to 60%, which is where Dillon is currently at, then Venjix will still have full control over Kaylee."

"Well, how do we stop him?" Kaylee asked as Hayden walked in with a tray of snacks for the three. She set it down and joined the conversation.

Greg grabbed an apple slice and looked up at Kaylee, "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do to stop him."

"Venjix?" Hayden asked. She was deeply worried about her mother, and did the only thing she ever knew what to do in times like these. She called out to her sister for her.

The others nodded sadly and Hayden spoke up again, "Mom, you'll be okay, right?"

Kaylee could see Hayden was worried and pulled her in close.

"I'll be fine, I promise you."

With Hayden in her arms, Kaylee thought she would feel better. No matter how bad her day was going, Hayden always seemed to cheer her up, but something wasn't right anymore. Something felt different.

Suddenly, Kaylee picked Hayden up and threw her to the other side of the room.

Greg ran over to Kaylee as Dani ran to her cousin. Kaylee saw Greg coming and quickly grabbed his wrist. She spun his around and threw him into a wall.

Her claws came out of her knuckles and she slashed at Greg's back several times before he dropped to the ground.

Hayden looked up at Dani.

"It must be Venjix!" she frowned.

"He can't keep doing this!" Dani growled, stepping up and turning to Kaylee. "We have to find some way to lower the robotics inside her and fast!"

Hayden remembered her experience as a robot, and how she got out of it. Her powers were much more developed than her mothers. If only there was some way to pass that on.

"Wait a minute," Hayden smirked, remembering her newest power and when it had been used last. Her zwoop allowed her to switch bodies with anyone, her regeneration came with her. If she trade bodies with her mother, Kaylee would be able to get rid of the machine parts faster, and Venjix would lose control.

"It's zwooping time!" Hayden yelled, calling her powers just as Kaylee charged at Dani.

Suddenly, after glowing a slight green, she stopped and began throwing up her first machine part. Dani watched in total disgust before Kaylee and Hayden dropped to the ground.

"Um... guys?" she called, looking around. "Greg... what happened?"

Dani turned to Greg and saw he was unconscious as well, surrounded in a pool of his own blood from his back. Dani screamed and ran over to him.

From the garage, Ronny heard her daughter scream and ran to the lab.

Ronny made it in and saw three bodies on the ground, but at the moment, no matter how much she loved the people lying there, she didn't care. She saw her daughter sobbing over Greg's body and ran to her. She pulled Dani away and into her own arms. As she tried to comfort Dani she looked down at Greg.

He was still alive, but in serious need of a doctor.

The others heard the scream and ran inside. Ronny tossed her phone to Mike.

"Call your uncle," she told him as he looked at the bodies on the ground. "Tell him anything to get him here as fast as possible?"

"Like the truth?" Summer asked, kneeling next to her Aunt and cousin. "What happened?"

Dani was still sobbing loudly, and Ronny figured there would be no straight answer from her, so she just shrugged.

Kaylee's body suddenly started jerking around. Flynn recognised it from when Hayden was coughing up machine parts and turned away.

Kaylee's throat ripped open suddenly as the piece on her chest came out. Summer whimpered, backing away from the horrific scene.

Kaylee's chest was now starting to rip open. Dillon kneeled down behind Summer and caught her in his arms. Summer grabbed his for comfort and buried her face behind them as she watched her Aunt behind ripped open by an unknown force.

"That's..."

"... disgusting," the twins frowned.

Dr. K ran passed them and started the scanners on Kaylee's body.

"Her robotic implants have decreased to 65%!" she gasped. She saw the clipboard on the ground and ran over to it. She picked it up, reading the latest update. "Two minutes ago it was still at 90%!"

Summer looked up when she heard that. She knew Hayden had thrown up her robotic parts and also knew her regeneration abilities were more developed than her mother's. She looked over at her cousin, slumped against the wall, then at Kaylee.

The rip in her throat was already healing up.

"Zwoop!" she exclaimed. "Hayden zwooped with Aunt K!"

"But why?" Ziggy asked. "Why all of a sudden? And without letting us know?"

Flynn joined Ronny and Dani beside Greg and saw the marks on his back.

"I think it's got something to do with Venjix," he growled.

"62%!" Dr. K called out as Kaylee spit up another piece.

"It's got to..."

"... drop to 60, right, K?" Gem and Gemma asked. Dr. K nodded, looking at Greg's research.

"61%," she yelled. "61.5%... .4... .3... .2... .1... 60%!"

As soon as Dr. K reached the sixty mark, Kaylee gasped, sitting up straight. She began sobbing as Summer ran over to her.

"Hayden?" she asked, and the blonde nodded.

Over against the wall, Hayden started to wake up as well.

"Not again with the mind switch," Scott groaned.

Kaylee (Hayden) walked over to her mother and put her hand on her arm.

"It's zwooping time," she smiled, and the two were back in their regular bodies. Kaylee immediately pulled Hayden in for a hug.

"Thank you," she whispered. Hayden nodded, holding her mother close. She was never going to lose her.

Suddenly, Hayden dropped from extensive use of her powers. Kaylee could tell (she was feeling a little drained herself) and carried her daughter to the hospital bed.

David ran in and found his wife and daughter with Greg. He smiled softly at both of them and examined Greg's back.

"I'll see what I can do," he said. He looked up at Flynn and nodded, and both men carried Greg to the bed to lay him on his stomach. Doc asked that everyone, including Kaylee and Dr. K, leave the room while he fixed up the gold Ranger.

Ronny tried to walk her daughter to the couch, but Dani didn't move. Instead, she stood by the door. She wanted to wait for the all clear so she could wait by Greg's bed.

Ronny didn't disturb her. Instead, she walked to the couch on her own and sat down with the others.

Summer was still shaking slightly from what she had witnessed and only found comfort by being between her Aunt and Dillon.

Flynn was worried about his girlfriend and couldn't sit down. He was too busy pacing.

In a few short minutes, the garage turned from a garage into a hospital waiting room. To make matters worse, Tenaya Seven was standing in the park, waiting for a fight.

Samantha walked out of her room at that moment, fully aware of the situation with Greg and her sister. She had been mediation and got caught up in reality from her fox spirit. She hopped the railing and landed on the lower level.

"I totally got this one," she smiled. "No one puts robotic parts into my mom, and my sister, and tried to turn them both on me several times without getting a can of ass-kicking!"

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Scott asked her. Samantha nodded.

"I'm dead, remember?" she smirked. "I can't get hurt."

Ziggy turned to Flynn when he heard. The L-Green Ranger was smirking happily.

"I wonder, between a dead daughter and one who can't die, how stressed where Kaylee and Dustin about child safety?"

Flynn rolled his eyes then slapped Ziggy on the back of the head.

-----RPM-----

Samantha didn't even stop when she saw Tenaya standing before her in the park. She came up behind the cyber-bitch and slapped her foot into the back of her head and pinned the robot down.

"You and your Jackass red light super virus put my mother and my sister through hell!" she screamed as Tenaya struggled to free herself. For the first time in her programmed life, Tenaya felt fear. Samantha leaned down and whispered into Tenaya's ear, "I'm going to haunt your every dream, every nightmare and every waking moment of your fucking robotic life. There will not be a day when you walk into this city that you will not fear crossing paths with me, because I swear to GOD, the next time I see that sad excuse of a face, I will destroy it and use your spare parts to make paper clips!"

"What did I ever do to you?" Tenaya asked, trying to look up at Sam, but Samantha grabbed her head and held her down.

"You've done absolutely nothing to me," she growled. "But you tried putting robot implants in my sister and you tried to turn her against all of us! Then, when she's not good enough, you try to burn her and her boyfriend down! To top it all off, you repeat the process with my MOTHER! The mother I've missed for nineteen years of my life, you try to rip her the hell away from me! I'm tired of worrying about if I'll get to see my fucking family again! So get to your feet and run, Tenaya, run back to Venjix and tell him that if you, or any other fucking attack-bot should set foot in this city again and make my baby sister or my mother cry, I will personally rip their heads off and send them back in several different boxes! I'll do the same until you and that blinking bot are no longer on this planet!"

Samantha pulled Tenaya to her feet then pushed her out of the park.

"Go tell your Master Venjix that playtime is over. The Rangers have a Guardian Angel now!"

Samantha could hear a non-existent crowd cheering as she wiped the dirt from her hands and walked off.

"Well, that was a much needed rant," she smirked. "Now... where did that come from?"

Images of her sister and mother in tears, worried about the other's safety haunted her mind like it had recently been doing, and Samantha let a tear fall.

"Right, that's where..."

She could always hear Hayden's prayers, it was a way she felt linked to her sister. But she never told her. She never told her out of fear of losing her sister. If Hayden knew those prayers were actually being heard, she wouldn't be honest with them.

Lately, through all the robotic implant drama, Hayden had been praying like crazy for her family to go back to normal. Samantha could feel her sister's pain.

When Kaylee was turned, Hayden was torn in two, but stayed as strong as she possibly could and won the battle for her mother's heart. After all, as her father said before "Hayden's way to Kaylee's heart is through her own stomach... literally."

But moments ago, when Venjix tried to take over Kaylee again, Samantha had the last straw. She heard Hayden's prayer for her mother to get better, and was instantly pulled in Hayden's world to see if there was anything she could do to help.

Though the rant seemed to come out of nowhere, every word of it was true. Tenaya and Venjix had cause Hayden and Kaylee so much pain and suffering, and Samantha was sick of it. She was ready to destroy anything that got in her path if it meant protecting the family she had finally been reunited with. She wasn't kidding about being as Guardian Angel.

"Meh, I'll sort through the rest of my emotions later... I think I may have anger issues though..."

-----RPM-----

Samantha got home just as Dani had been given the all clear by her father to rush in and see Greg. Samantha only caught the last bit of what the Doc had said.

"... Greg's been heavily medicated though and probably won't wake up for hours."

Samantha knew Dani was a very impatient and fast girl. She could barely wait for toast to pop. But she also knew that love did strange things to people and wouldn't cut in. If Dani was going to last the hours of silence and waiting, then she would prove to herself and Greg that she was madly in love, and ready to drop everything for him.

Samantha smiled at the thought of her young cousin in love and sat on the couch.

Immediately, all the boys scooted away from her. She looked up and frowned at them.

"What?" she asked.

"We saw that fight!" Mike told her. "The way you kicked Tenaya's ass without laying a hand on her, aside from the kick to the head I mean! You were totally scary!"

"Oh," Samantha giggled. "Well, my sister's in the hospital, again, my mother's recovering from roboitis and I think I have anger issues."

"Issues?" Dillon asked and Sam noticed that even he, the mighty and powerful Dillon, and moved away. "Samantha, I'm the one with anger issues... what you just did... that was evil!"

"And I'm proud," Samantha smirked. "No one messes with my family and gets away with it!"

The three o'clock bell rung, and Samantha perked up.

"Oh, cookie time!"

As Samantha left for the kitchen, Ziggy flopped down between Scott and Dillon.

"You know... the dark side... they have cookies..."

-----RPM-----

Inside the lab, Dani took a stool and sat by her boyfriend. She took his hand and brushed the hair away from his face.

Because the injuries were on his back, he had to lay with his stomach on the mat. This also meant Dani had to be sure he wasn't going to roll over as he slept.

Dani leaned in closer, kissing Greg before moving to whisper in his ear, "When you wake up, I'll be right beside you. I promise I'll never leave this room until you open your eyes."

Dani hopped he would wake up and make some comment daring her to try and stick to her word, but he didn't. His eyes remained closed and he stayed motionless.

"Smart ass," she growled, squeezing his hand, "You know this is making things harder for me. But no matter what, I'm here for you."

Hayden rolled over in her bed. She wasn't injured or sick, but just needed some sleep to recover from zwooping with her mother and pulling the robotic parts out, all while trying to push Venjix and his power back.

But she was awake now and she was watching little Dani and Greg.

"You really love him that much, you'll wait for him?" Hayden asked.

Dani nodded, never looking at Hayden. She couldn't take her eyes off Greg. She wanted to see him open his beautiful brown eyes and smile when he sees here there waiting for him.

"I wish you the best of luck," Hayden whispered. She rolled out of bed and walked over to her cousin. She hugged her from behind and kissed the top of her head. "I really do."

"Thanks," Dani whispered.

Hayden exited the room, feeling like Dani needed some alone time. When she did, Summer saw her and tried to go for a hug, but Hayden pushed her away. She needed someone else, someone slightly more important.

Hayden ran to the couch, where Flynn was sitting and knelt down in front of him. Flynn looked down at her and pulled her in close.

"Hey, don't cry," he whispered into her ear, slowly rocking her. "Everything's okay now. You saved your mother, and us."

"I know," Hayden nodded. "But... I love you."

Flynn smiled and kissed his girlfriend.

"I love you too."

-----RPM-----

A few hours passed in the RPM base. The boys and their girlfriends were all sitting in front of the TV. It was on, but no one was really watching it.

Dani was still sitting in Greg's room, by his side, holding his hand and playing with his hair, waiting. She found herself at peace though, unlike other times she had to wait (take the toaster for example). This time, she wasn't growing impatient and felt as if she could sit here forever, just staring at him. Aside from him waking up, there was nothing else she could possible wish for.

Kaylee walked over to her daughter and Flynn. She leaned over their shoulders and spoke to Hayden.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked the blonde. Hayden nodded, untangling herself from Flynn's arms to follow her mother to the kitchen.

Kaylee sat down and Hayden sat across from her. Kaylee took her daughter's hands in hers and smiled.

"I know it's been a little dramatic here recently," she started.

"A little?" Hayden asked. "Aside from the beach, it's been attack after attack and scare after scare!"

"So a little was a little bit of an understatement," Kaylee smirked. "I just wanted to say... I'm sorry."

"Mom... unless you're telling Venjix to kill us, you have nothing to apologize for!"

"I'm sorry about what happened..."

"With the implants?" Hayden asked. "Mom, that wasn't..."

"After," Kaylee smirked. "When I was smothering you. I know you hated it, and I know it was stupid of me. You're sixteen years old, and you'll be seventeen before I know it! You're not a child and you don't need me acting like one. I realised that, if I had something I needed to tell you, I could do just that."

"You know I'm always willing to talk, mom," Hayden smirked. "Except about sex. That was awkward."

"Yeah, I'm glad the only one left is Christian!" Kaylee giggled. "But anyways... this isn't about sex."

"Then..."

"Hayden, I would move mountains for you. I would go to hell and back just to have another second with you. You know I love you, and nothing, not implants, not another child or cousin or team-mate, will ever change the way I feel about you."

"I know, mom."

"You are the daughter I raised. I carried you for nine months. I gave birth to you. I changed your diapers when you pooped. I nursed you when you were sick and I held you when you were scared. I chased the boogieman away night after night. I helped you in school and I was at your graduation. I loathe the boys who break your heart. I'll stick by your side no matter what. You are the daughter I love. The one daughter no one took from me, and the one daughter who no one can take from me. If they try, I'll kill them! I'll kill them and bury them."

Hayden smiled, rubbing her mother's hand with her finger.

"Well, then, mom, you totally do the most awesomest job at showing it," she said. "Because I already knew that."

Kaylee stood up and reached over the table to pull her daughter into a hug.

"Never forget it, baby girl," Kaylee whispered. "Because it'll never change."

_All my life, I'll be with you forever, to get you through the day, and make everything okay._

-----RPM-----

By this time, Dani had fallen asleep. She tried not to, but her body took over and passed out.

Greg had been awake for five minutes now, and didn't bother to wake her just yet. He couldn't believe she was still here.

He knew from the warmth of his hand in his, the way the chair was shaped and the slightly pained look on Dani's face from sitting in the chair, that she had never left his side. Not once.

"Nascar," he finally called, squeezing her hand, "wake up, babe."

Dani opened her eyes and smiled when she woke up to Greg's beautiful brown ones.

"I told you I would wait," she whispered.

Greg just laughed, wrapping his one arm around her and inviting her to join him on the bed. Dani rested beside him, happy.

_I will be, all that you want, and get myself together, 'cause you keep me from falling apart._

-----RPM-----

Samantha had been watching her mother and Hayden in the kitchen and smiled as she ate her cookie. That was the reason why she wanted to keep her family together. The unconditional love her mother had for her sister and the fact that both of them were so willing to put themselves out there for the other.

But that was also the reason she was getting angry with Venjix. She didn't want to see either one of them getting hurt, especially for the other. And if they weren't going to protect themselves, she was going to have too.

'_Cause without you, I can't sleep, I'm not gonna ever let you leave, you're all I got, you're all I want._

_**Author's note: Okay, first of all, this song is not mine, but it's appeared several times in the series. Its Avril Lavigne's song: I Will Be (sung by Leona Lewis but I listen to the Avril version). It was first used for Kira and Conner, and it's THEIR song, but it fits so well with some other situations, I have to throw it in.**_

_**And, I have to say, Dani and Greg are my favourite couple. I know it should be Kaylee and Dustin, and I love that pairing to bits and pieces and it will never change, but the Dani/Greg thing is just so perfectly opposite its awesome fun writing!**_


	25. McKnight

A figure slowly approached the Ranger Base early in the morning. She crept up to the door and found it was locked.

"Shit," she muttered. She looked around for a way to open it. That's when she noticed the DNA scanner. Leave it to the doc to secure everything through DNA.

The figure pushed the button, allowing for the scanners to mark her down.

"_Identity confirmed: Ranger Yellow."_

"Close enough," the figure chuckled as the door opened. It was very loud, but the figure could only assume it would be, after all, it was a large garage door.

She stepped inside and looked around. The Ranger base was a total mess. It looked like a hurricane had passed through.

Taking a deep breath, she began to make her way to the girl's bedroom. She was suddenly stopped when someone grabbed her wrist and pulled her into him.

Dillon noticed Summer walking into the base and wondered what she was doing up so late. She didn't seem to notice him sitting by the kitchen, so he got up and pulled here in for a hug. She shifted in his arms, turning to face him, and Dillon went down for a small kiss.

"Ew, what the hell are you doing?" she asked, pulling away from his and punching him in the stomach. Dillon grabbed his stomach in pain and almost dropped to the ground.

"Ow, Summer, you could have said no."

"Sum... right!" the figure laughed nervously before leading Dillon over to the couch. When he was sitting down, she plopped down beside him. "I'm not Summer."

Dillon looked over at her and examined her thoroughly. She looked like Summer. She wore Summer's jacket. She apparently had Summer's DNA.

"I'm Samantha."

If anything could make Dillon feel stupid, it would be that. Of course she was Samantha!

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" Dillon frowned.

"I don't know," Samantha giggled, "But I'm guessing you're Dillon."

Dillon glared down at her as she laughed.

"How did you know?" he asked her sarcastically, rolling his eyes and turning away. He didn't like to be fooled, or made to look like he was stupid.

"Hey, be nice to me," Samantha said, hitting Dillon's arm playfully, but with slight force. "I'm your girlfriend's older sister! What do you think my dad is going to ask me as soon as I get home?"

"How was your trip?"

"What's _he_ like?" Samantha answered. "Now, lemme go! I wanna surprise my sister!"

Dillon heard the boys' bedroom door opened as they all walked out and decided to maybe have a little fun.

"Um, before, how about I whip you up some cookies?" he suggested, pulling her to the kitchen.

"You bake?" Samantha asked.

"No..." Dillon looked at Samantha as if she had grown another head while he grabbed the cookie jar. "I get them from here."

"Note: can't bake," Samantha teased. "May also lead to not being able to provide food unless made by my Aunt Kaylee."

"Are you judging me?" Dillon asked. Samantha nodded, keeping a small smirk on her face as the boys walked in.

It was early morning and no one, not even Mike, was ready to assume that Samantha had come down for a surprise visit. All he knew what that the blonde wearing the RPM yellow jacket was sitting in his usual seat.

He walked over to her on his way to the fridge for a glass of milk and flicked the back of her head. Samantha didn't like that and grabbed his wrist before jerking it, and Mike, backwards. The D-Green Ranger landed with his back on the ground as Samantha glared down at him.

The other boys knew Summer and Mike never really got along, but Summer never really threw Mike down. She preferred to be a little more verbal.

Ziggy decided to approach this situation. Samantha could tell he was the funny man of the group with the way he approached her and told the others that he "got this".

"I've assumed wrong before, but I'm going to try again. Summer, we do realise that every few weeks or so, you and the other girls get a little more emotional than usual. Now, the Zigmister realises this is normal and would just like for you to know that _I_ have got your back. I know this time of month is difficult, but we can get through it together."

Dillon had to hold back a laugh as he watched Samantha bite her lower lip. Ziggy saw this too and backed away.

"I don't know who you are," Samantha started, "But unless you're prepared the lose something of value, I suggest you turn around and run."

"I guessed wrong, didn't I?" Ziggy asked, backing away slowly. "You're not in that time of month, are you?"

Samantha shook her head slowly, keeping her glare on Ziggy ice cold.

Greg and Dani stepped out of the lab and Dani immediately recognised Samantha. She knew Greg was fine to stand on his own, and bolted across the garage to the kitchen, before jumping on Samantha's back.

"SAMMY!" she giggled.

The boys, with the exception of Dillon, were all in total shock. Ziggy felt like an idiot for not knowing this wasn't Summer.

Samantha spit the red hair out of her mouth from when Dani attacked her, and knew of only one cousin who was so fast and so red head.

"Hey, Dani," she giggled.

"I should have known," Mike smiled, but made no move to greet his cousin. He knew she had patched things up with Summer, but he had no idea where he stood with her.

Dani dropped off Samantha's back as the SPD yellow and the RPM D-Green exchanged nervous looks. Samantha suddenly opened her arms for a hug. Mike moved in and the two exchanged a friendly hug, until Samantha put her hands to Mike's pants and lifted his boxers, high.

"OH BOY!" Mike yelled as he was lifted off the ground for a moment. Samantha giggled as Mike walked away, trying desperately to rescue his boxers from his butt.

Summer and Hayden finally came out of the bedroom and were in utter shock when they saw Samantha standing there. The older twin heard the door opened and looked up.

Summer soared down the steps and nearly knocked her sister over in a hug. The two girls spun around, both in their jeans and RPM jackets.

Ziggy, Dillon, Scott and Flynn were now totally confused. Ziggy started to giggle as he nudged Dillon.

"Which one are you going to kiss now?" he asked. Dillon just glared down at the younger boy with a look of total disgust.

"I have no idea," Dillon admitted. "I don't like this identical twin thing."

Mike leaned over to whisper to the boys, "When they stand side by side, Samantha's got, like, a millimetre on Summer. When apart, Summer prefers to walk around with her hands in her front pockets and Samantha walks around with her arms crossed, giving others evil glares just for fun."

"Anything physically different about them?" Scott asked, "Aside from the height thing?"

"Summer's got a birthmark on the small of her back," Mike laughed, "but unless she takes off her shirt, you won't see it."

When Samantha and Summer finally broke from their long hug, Samantha's eyes caught Hayden. She waved over to her little cousin and hugged her.

"I can't stay mad at you," Samantha laughed.

Just as the hug was about to end, Samantha saw a blonde girl, a year older than her, walked into the room. She couldn't believe her eyes. She recognised her from the few Christmases and birthdays.

Sam threw Hayden onto the couch before nervously walking over to her Sr. She looked the older girl in the eyes, then crossed her arms and glared.

"You're supposed to be dead," she said.

"And you're supposed to... you're... supposed... you...." Samantha Sr couldn't find something against the younger girl, so she just stuck out her tongue.

Little Sam laughed, "So, are you still dead, or did you get your powers?"

"I got my powers. I'm back for good," Sammy smirked.

"Okay, not only do I have to worry about the identical twin thing, but I also have to worry about the Sam thing?" Ziggy asked.

More quick introductions were made and explanations were given (Dr. K didn't quite understand identical twins) and now everyone was sitting on the couches in a very awkward silence.

Dillon sat on the end of one couch, beside Summer. Samantha Jr sat beside her sister, poking her every once in a while just to piss her off. Kaylee was sitting between Sam and Hayden, occasionally poking Sam for poking Summer.

Hayden sat beside her mother, with Flynn on the ground at her feet. Samantha Sr was sitting on the other end of the couch, sometimes reaching over to poke Sam and have her blame Kaylee for it.

Mike was standing behind the couch, looking down at his family. Every few minutes he would reach over and hit Sam and Sum only to have them blame each other.

Scott, Ziggy, Dr. K, Gem, Gemma and Greg watched on, utterly confused. Dani was sitting on the ground in front of Greg and laughed at the scene.

"Stop it," Summer finally barked, catching her sister's finger. Sam tried to pull herself free, but Summer had a death grip, and the only thing she managed to do was back into her Aunt. Kaylee tried go get as far away as possible, but that only resulted into her squishing her two daughters and nearly kicking Flynn twice.

"Girls!" Kaylee yelled, but that didn't stop them. Sam grabbed her sister's hands and the two started pushing each other away until they both landed on the ground.

Mike grinned, hopping over the couch to take their spots.

Kaylee rubbed the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. She knew the girls weren't going to stop, Mike was going to continue hitting them whenever he got the chance, and Hayden was going to join in soon, only to have her legs or arms broken by the devil twins.

"Should we break this up?" Scott asked as Hayden jumped off the couch and onto her cousins. Mike was too lazy to reach out and push, so he just started kicking. When the girls realised what he was doing, they caught his leg and pulled him into the group. Mike tried to hold onto the couch for dear life (he may have been the biggest, strongest and the man of the furious four, but he was no match for the three girls). As he came crashing down on the ground, he took two throw pillows and two cushions with him.

Kaylee crossed her arms and looked over at her oldest daughter, happy Sammy wasn't a part of that chaos.

Kaylee took a deep breath, wishing she had taken the yellow dino gem instead of green as she yelled out.

"GUYS!"

All she got in response was a stray cushion to the head, sending her over the couch.

Sammy hopped off her couch, seeing the danger she was in, and ran over to Scott for protection.

Flynn had to jump off the ground and seek shelter as well.

Dani was about to join in (not a part of the four, but when around, she is number five), but Dillon grabbed her shoulders and held her back, afraid the family reunion would escalade if she jumped in.

Kaylee popped up from the ground behind the couch and threw the cushion down. "Damn I wish Kira were here!" she yelled as she ran around the furniture to reach the group.

"Wait a minute," Kaylee smirked, realising Kira didn't need to be there to snap some sense into the furious four. The mother snickered as she ran behind where Summer was and used her nails to pinch Summer in the back of the neck.

The youngest twin screamed from the pain and the shock, letting one of her sonic screams rip through the air and possibly kill the hearing of the three others around her, not to mention everyone seeking shelter.

"Dammit, Summer!" Sam yelled, rubbing her ears to get them to stop ringing. Mike was punching his head to get the ringing away and Hayden had hit the ground with a pillow over her head to protect herself. "You've gotten louder!"

Summer rubbed the back of her neck and looked up at her aunt, "That hurt!"

"So did this," Kaylee frowned, picking up a cushion then whipping it into Summer's face. The yellow Ranger was knocked onto her back from the impact while Kaylee returned to her seat on the couch.

When the commotion was over, Dillon let go of Dani's shoulders and the girl fell forward, breaking the fall with her face. While still on the ground, she muttered something about robots making her miss all the fun.

"Okay," Kaylee called to the teens. "I know Sam's here and all, but you've all still got work to do..."

Kaylee groaned loudly as the alarm interrupted her again. The nine Rangers and two Sams all ran out for the battle.

Gem and Gemma came to Kaylee's side, one on each.

"When they get home...."

"... they'll be tired from the battle and..."

"... it'll be much easier to...'

"... talk peacefully."

Kaylee hated the stereo talk from the twins and pulled away.

-----RPM-----

Tenaya seven waited on the construction site for the Rangers to appear. She had apparently not been all that scared of Sammy's rant from their last encounter, because she was smirking madly as she saw eleven Rangers in the distance.

"Perfect," she said, before realising her count was up by two from the last time. Even if she added in the devil-Angel, there was still one too many.

All her questions were answered though when she saw the eleventh Ranger... a clone of the yellow one? Now she had more questions.

"Well, looks like Ranger yellow's got herself a clone!"

"We are not clones!" Sam and Summer both yelled.

Summer gazed over at her sister and crossed her arms, "You know, it really doesn't help the clone thing when you do that," she frowned.

"Then don't do it!" Sam smirked.

"I have to do it, this is my city. When I come to help your team I'll let you do the yelling!"

"But I want to yell, you know it's my second favourite hobby after putting bugs in your bed!"

"But it's my city!"

"I like yelling!"

"My city!"

"Yell!"

"Fine," Summer gave up and Samantha cheered. She turned to T7 and stuck her tongue out.

"We're going to kick your ass... um..."

Samantha leaned over, "What's her name?"

Summer grinned, pushing her sister aside as she stepped forward. "Whatever you're doing, Tenaya, you're not going to get away with it!"

"Tenaya!" Sam yelled, finishing her Hero yell from before. "We're going to kick your ass Tanyana!"

"Tenaya!" Summer corrected her sister. "T-E-N-A-Y-A!"

"Oh, but I like Tanyana better."

"Of course you do," Summer rolled her eyes.

"Um, if you clones don't mind, I have a city to destroy, so can I just..."

"Shh!" the twins hushed. Summer looked over at her sister. "Okay, say it right, Te-na-ya!"

"Tenaya!" Samantha smirked. "Got it?"

"You got it," Summer nodded.

"_RANGER Yellow and Twin, there should be a battle going on!"_ Dr. K reminded the two.

"_Yeah, we want to..."_

"_... see more boom action..."_

"_... and not more twinspeak!"_

Scott decided it was time for battle and took his spot as leader. Before the morph call was heard, Dani grabbed Greg's arm, worry etched on her face.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked him. "It's still only been a few days since your back... and you still sleep in the hospital bed."

"Then I guess you'll have to watch my back," Greg smirked, quickly kissing Dani.

"Ready?" Scott yelled.

"READY!" the Rangers nodded. Sam joined in, while Sammy watched the light show, secretly powering up her fox spirit so she could kick T7's ass if she went near her baby sister.

"RPM, GET IN GEAR!" the RPM team yelled as their suits materialized on them.

SPD, EMERGENCY!" Sam called out, morphing into the yellow SPD ranger.

Hayden giggled slightly behind her helmet and poked her oldest girl cousin, "You morph call rhymes."

"Shut up."

-----RPM-----

"Not to self," Scott laughed as he walked back into the garage, with Sammy wrapped in his arms, "do not piss my girlfriend off or suffer the consequences."

"It's not my fault I can snap her in two," Sammy giggled. "But you should probably stay on my good side."

Dillon, Summer and Sam were walking together, with Summer looking up at Dillon every few seconds. Before Sammy had snapped Tenaya, he had faced her in battle, and had taken a pretty good beating, especially to the back. On the drive home, Summer had been forced to take the wheel when Dillon complained that his back was killing him. Now she was worried there was something more to it than he was letting on.

"Are you sure..."

"Summer," Dillon smiled, looking down at his girlfriend, "I'm positive it's just muscle pains. Don't worry about me; just have fun with your sister, okay? It's not every day you get to see her."

"Okay," Summer nodded, kissing Dillon quickly before running off with her sister. She looked back once at Dillon as Hayden and Flynn approached him.

"Uh, man, I saw a recent scan of your back and.... there were no more muscles left... the virus has everything from your chest down," Flynn frowned, "Well, except... you know..."

Hayden hit Flynn in the stomach, _hard_, and looked over at Dillon, "I know I don't want to know because I do know but... he's right. You're.... area, your upper chest, neck, head and right arm are the only things really left that are... yours."

"Why would you lie to Summer?" Flynn coughed, holding his stomach.

Dillon took a deep breath, "Because... like you said, my back isn't human... I shouldn't be able to feel pain from it... at least, not like this."

"You shouldn't lie to Summer, Pickles," Hayden frowned, tapping Dillon on the shoulder, "But, if you think it's best, I won't tell her."

"I won't either, man," Flynn said, "Just, be careful or you'll turn into a spider."

Dillon frowned as the two walked away. What did Flynn mean when he said he would turn into a spider.

"Don't spin a web of lies," Sammy smirked, poking Dillon on the nose as she walked by. Dillon put his hand to his nose, until he groaned in pain, moving his shoulders around to help with the pain in his back.

-----RPM-----

"You know, I think I like this place better than the command center at SPD HQ," Sam smirked, walking around the lab as K, Greg and the Boom-twins worked on the computers. "No real parents to worry about. You should see how mom reacts whenever I blow up!"

"Aunt Kaylee's not much better," Summer giggled. "Sometimes, I think she worries more about me and Mike than she does Hayden."

"That might be because Ranger... Hayden can't get hurt," Dr. K spoke up.

"That hasn't stopped Hayden from nearly dying," Greg pointed out. Dr. K shushed him and the two let the girls get back to bonding.

"So, how is mom doing with the whole mentoring thing? I never really pictured her as the "let's sit down and talk". I always thought she was a "let's sit down and talk about why I just kicked your ass you bone head" kinda person."

"She is," Sam laughed, nodding.

"I like Aunt K better than," Summer smirked.

Samantha put her hand to her stomach as it rumbled. She smirked, turning to her sister.

"Food break, I'll be right back," she smiled.

Summer nodded picking up one of the charts Greg and Gem left on the table while Sam stepped out into the garage. On her way to the kitchen, she passed by Dillon.

Dillon was still trying to get over the pain in his back when he saw the McKnight girl walk by. He turned to her with a smile on his face. He remembered Mike's advice on how to tell which twin in was.

Her hands in her front pocket and smiling happily. No "I'm going to kill you" glare. It was definitely Summer.

He approached her, hoping to undo his first lie, when the pain in his back grew. He could almost hear a voice in his head telling him to hurt her while she was alone.

Dillon suddenly felt something take over his body and lost it. He approached the McKnight girl sweetly.

"Hey babe."

Sam turned around, ready to nail Dillon in the groin this time, but as soon as she was facing him, he hand his hand around her throat. He lifted her off the ground and slammed her into the wall.

Samantha grabbed his hand with hers, trying to pull it free, but Dillon's enhanced strength aided him in keeping his grip. It also meant his grip was strong enough to keep Samantha from letting out even the smallest scream.

Samantha tried to kick, but Dillon's other hand balled into a fist and landed in her stomach. Samantha tried to cough, but her airway was completely blocked.

"DILLON!"

Dillon heard that voice and snapped back to reality, finally regaining control of himself once more He let go of Samantha and turned.

There, behind him, stood Summer, with her arms crossed over her chest as she pointed a death glare at Dillon. Because of her stance, Dillon mistook her for Sam.

"I... I'm sorry... I couldn't..."

Summer pushed past Dillon and ran to her sister as Sam rubbed her neck. Aside from the pain in her stomach and her throat, she was unharmed, but Summer was still fuming.

"What the hell!" she yelled, putting herself in front of her older sister. "What's wrong with you?"

"Look, S-"

"No, I don't want to hear your excuses, Dillon," Summer frowned, turning around to help her sister up. "C'mon Sam..."

"Sam?" Dillon frowned. He looked over at the two girls, catching Summer's eye. "Summer, I didn't mean to... I thought she was you!"

"Ooh!" Ziggy breathed, giving away his position from the top of the stairs, where he had been watching. "Not good, my friend."

Summer looked up at Ziggy, before turning back to Dillon. "Oh, so you thought she was me?"

Dillon knew there was no backing out now. Either he turn around and go back to knowingly attacking Sam, or he admit to attacking Sam, thinking she was his girlfriend. He had the third option of running away, but Dani and Ronny stepped into the room after hearing the commotion.

"Summer, I don't know what happened... I thought she was you and I felt this urge to..."

"Kill me?" Summer asked.

"No... well..."

"Well?" Summer pressed.

"Kind of..." Dillon rubbed the back of his neck, hoping something would come to mind to save his ass. He looked up at Ziggy. The L-Green Ranger shook his head furiously and pulled away.

"Don't drag me down with you, Dill Pickles," he said.

Kaylee stepped into the room with the phone in her hand, "Sam, your mother just called. She needs you home A.S.A.P for team training."

Sam nodded as Summer lead her out.

"I'll be back to deal with you, _Dillon_," Summer snapped.

Kaylee sensed the drama and tension in the room and looked around nervously. Dillon sat down on the couch, with his head in his hands, while the others looked at him, slightly confused.

"Backing away now," Kaylee said, stepping out with her nieces. "Sam, I'll drive you back to the tunnel."

"Shotgun...?" Sam called softly, hoping to cheer her sister up. She hated leaving on such a sour note, especially if she wasn't going to get an explanation as to why Dillon attacked her, but if her mom had to call a second time, Sam was going to have worry about extra training.

"Whatever," Summer said, getting into the backseat of the car.

Ziggy hopped down the stairs and ran up beside his friend.

"What happened, Pickles?" he asked.

Dillon shook his head. "I think I screwed up."

"Think?" Ziggy laughed. "You nearly kill your girlfriend's older sister, then as an excuse you tell her you thought it was her."

"I honestly don't know what happened!" Dillon frowned. "One minute, I was trying to stop my back from hurting, the next, I wanted to wipe out the..."

"The entire human race?" Hayden asked, popping up from behind the couch. The others jumped, turning to her, before returning their gaze to Dillon.

"Yeah!" Dillon nodded. "I don't know why?"

"Brooding bad boy finally snap?" Dani asked. Ronny frowned at her daughter, slapping her over the head for the insensitive comment.

"It wasn't me, okay!" Dillon yelled, jumping out of his seat to stand over Dani. She pressed two of her fingers into his chest, pushing him away.

"You proved you point," she frowned.

"I would never hurt any of you guys," Dillon said, looking at the entire team as they gathered into the room. His eyes fell on Ziggy as a smirk appeared on his face, "well, most of you."

Ziggy frowned, but caught Dillon's smirk. He knew the Black Ranger's way of proving his brotherly love to him was by watching him squirm.

"You guys believe me, right?" Dillon asked the team.

"I know I do," Hayden nodded. "When I was a Venjix drone, I felt the exact same way."

"Well, the pain started in your back, right?" Greg asked.

"Yeah," Dillon nodded.

"Your spine controls your nerves. If Venjix were smart, which he is, he would know that to full control a human, you would need to access the spine," Greg smirked.

Dr. K caught onto Greg's idea and ran to the lab to grab a scanner. She returned and quickly ran over Dillon's back with the machine.

"Greg was right," she smirked. "Dillon's entire back has given into the virus."

"Not to mention that on his last scan, Dillon was at 60%."

"And his last scan..."

"... was a few days ago. And if..."

"... the virus is constantly growing, that..."

"... would mean he's past the 60% mark and..."

"... Venjix now has enough hardware inside Dillon to..."

"... control him," Gem and Gemma said.

"So, Dillon would feel pain in his back, because Venjix is using his spine to control his actions?" Dani asked.

"Precisely," the four soup members nodded.

"Look," Hayden smiled, sitting beside Dillon. "Don't worry about Summer. I'll tell her you didn't attack her, or Sam or whoever..."

"No," Dillon got off the couch, "I'll tell her."

"You sure, man?" Flynn asked. "I mean, Summer's got a mean right hook when she's angry. And I don't know about you, but attacking her sister won't get you on her happy side."

Dillon turned to the boom-twins, who seemed completely distracted from life as they searched for playdoh.

"Where do you guys keep those happy pills?" he asked.

"What pills?"

"We don't have pills?"

Dillon turned away from the twins and moved forward. As he made his way to the girls' room to wait for Summer's return, he muttered, "I highly doubt that."

-----RPM-----

Summer and Sam stood face to face, tearing up slightly as they prepared to say their goodbyes. Conner and Kaylee were waiting by the cars.

"You know," Conner started, looking down at Kaylee, "this will make things so much easier for us at home. I was running out of pictures of Summer."

"Why?" Kaylee asked.

Conner reached into his wallet. He showed Kaylee the small pictures of his two girls. Samantha's was perfectly intact, but Summer's looked like it has been attacked by Porcupongo.

"I'm starting to wonder why I didn't just give Sam the RPM silver morpher," Kaylee frowned. Conner looked at her, slightly shocked there was an extra suit during the war between the girls.

"Kaylee, you knew there was... and you... I think you've been hit by more soccer balls than me!"

Kaylee just shrugged, making Conner laughed, pulling her into a one armed hug and noggying her head.

Over with the girls, Sam was looking down at her baby sister.

"You know, I really did miss you," Sam laughed.

"Yeah, mom told me," Summer smirked. "I didn't believe her."

"Sorry about that," Sam said. "I really shouldn't have let spandex get between us. You're my little sister, and should be ready to give up anything for you."

"And I'm sorry too," Summer smiled. "I know you loved the RPM suit, and I shouldn't have taken it when I knew how much it hurt you."

"Sum, I'm not going to ask you to give up the chance of a lifetime. If you had done that, and let me wear the suit, then I would be happy for... three seconds."

"Three?" Summer asked.

"The seconds it takes for you to give me the morpher. After that, I would have felt guilty."

Summer smiled, holding her hand up. Samantha nodded and laughed as the two did their special handshake. Conner and Kaylee watched it in awe. Both girls were perfectly synchronised, and after so long apart, they still knew the handshake perfectly.

"I hate twins," Conner frowned. Kaylee nodded, before looking up at him strangely.

"Um, what about you and... never mind," she frowned.

Conner laughed and waved the Samantha over. She hopped over to her father after giving Summer a huge hug. Both got into the car as Summer walked over to her Aunt.

"Well," Kaylee smiled, pulling her niece into a hug. "I'm glad you two are sisters again."

"Me too," Summer nodded.

"Now, let's go home. It's cookie time!" Kaylee giggled.

Summer nearly hesitated as she walked back to the car. Going home meant she had to face Dillon. At the moment, she was so mad at him for attacking her sister, and thinking it was her, she was afraid she was going to do something she would regret.

She was also scared he would so something else he would regret. He would want to talk about what just happened, and the thought of being alone with him after the attack kind of scared her.

"Hey, Aunt K," Summer called as Kaylee started the car. Kaylee glanced over at her for a moment and nodded.

"Yeah, kiddo."

"Mind if I join you for cookie time?" she asked. "I don't want to be alone right now."

Kaylee saw the slight look of fear in Summer's eyes and nodded. She didn't understand why Summer needed to make sure she was going to stick around, the garage never got lonely (and if it did, the stairs always had a great view for eavesdropping).

"I think I have enough cookies for a guest. But the milk is mine!" Kaylee giggled.


	26. Heroes Among Us

Once home, Summer and Kaylee sat in the kitchen for evening cookie time. Kaylee offered her niece some of her homemade cookies and sat down.

"So what happened here before I walked in?" Kaylee asked.

"Nothing..." Summer said, dunking her cookie in the milk. "It's nothing to worry about."

Kaylee grabbed the glass of milk and pulled it away from Summer.

"Last time you said it was nothing to worry about your father had to sleep with you for a year because of nightmares every night," Kaylee frowned. "Now, I've got a husband, two daughters and a son that may suffer from nightmares, I don't need my niece doing it as well."

Dillon was watching from the top of the stairs as Summer told her Aunt of what he did. As he did, he tried to push back the Venjix controls on his body.

Suddenly his head started hurting. He closed his eyes as his hand flew to the side of his head and a memory appeared.

He was lying in a hospital bed, surrounded by other humans in the same position as him. Grinders were walking around, working on him and the others.

He was pulled out of the memory suddenly and with a smile on his face. He remembered something of what happened between the time he rescued Summer and when he woke up.

He ran to the stairs and almost flew down before stopping in front of the two women. Kaylee looked at him oddly, wondering why he looked like he just ran a marathon, while Summer glared at him, giving him, what he and the boys now liked to call, the "Ford Stare".

"Look, Summer, I know there's a lot of tension between us, and I..."

Summer slammed her cookies on the table (Kaylee was deeply offended that someone would be so aggressive towards her pride and joy) and almost stormed off, but Dillon caught her and pushed her back into the chair.

"I remember something," Dillon said.

Though Summer was pissed off at Dillon, she couldn't help but take interest in his statement.

"What?" Kaylee asked. "You remember something as in your past, or something as in what you had for lunch? I had tuna."

"No, not my lunch..."

"You don't remember lunch?" Kaylee frowned. "But... I made you tuna! Do you people not like my cooking?"

"I remember lunch..."

"Good, 'cause I think that was a good tuna sandwich, don't you?"

"Will you stop with the tuna?" Dillon frowned. Kaylee seemed hurt by this as she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

"It's not my fault I can never know when people like my tuna sandwiches... Tori can't eat them, unless I want to kill her..."

"Kaylee," Dillon growled. Kaylee looked up, spotting Dillon's annoyed look. She quickly shut up, pretending to zip her lips shut and toss away the key. Dillon sighed, shaking his head before looking back at the girls. "I remember a warehouse, with other people."

_More people... maybe they like tuna..._ Kaylee pondered in her head.

"They were all being worked on by Venjix, just like me!" Dillon finished. Summer frowned.

"So, there are more people out there like you?" she asked.

"Maybe," Dillon nodded.

"Well, what happened to them?" Kaylee asked.

Dillon shook his head, "I don't know, but..."

The alarms went off suddenly as all the other Rangers and Sammy ran into the room. Kaylee dismissed them all into battle as she turned on the monitors and kicked her feet up on the table.

"I think I'll make something else with tuna tonight," she smirked, "I like tuna."

-----RPM-----

The colonel was in a heated battle with a bunch of Grinders as the Rangers showed up. The colonel stepped back to catch his breath while the Rangers and Sam took over.

That's when he saw a little girl, maybe five years old, step onto the battle field. One Grinder approached her, ready to strike, but the Colonel ran up behind in and grabbed his shoulder.

"Not this time!" he yelled, throwing the Grinder into the air to land roughly on the ground. The Colonel picked up the girl and turned to run when an army of Grinders appeared, blocking his path. He looked the other way for an escape, only to find that was blocked by Grinders as well.

Scott saw his father and the young girl were in trouble and dropped back. Sam saw his move away and followed.

Greg seemed to notice the danger as well and joined the two. Scott nodded at the two and motioned to the girl and his father.

"Sam, you distract the Grinders. Greg, grabbed the girl and my father and get them out of there!" he ordered. Sam and Greg nodded, following his orders. Sam ran for the pack of mechanical robots, kicking and punching their heads right off their bodies, while Greg grabbed the girl.

Scott looked around, seeing a soldier with a blaster. He took the gun from the man and ran over to his father.

"Dad, Sam, duck!" he yelled, aiming the blaster at the rest of the Grinders. Samantha heard him loud and clear and jumped down. The colonel didn't do so, however, as he was too busy making sure the girl was safe. Sam groaned, swiping her legs out to knock the colonel off his feet, then used herself to cover him as Scott finished off the Grinders with a powerful shot from the blaster.

Greg joined Scott and Sam as the three regrouped. He held the girl in his arms. She was unharmed from the battle, as was Colonel Truman.

Her mother ran over to the Rangers and took the small girl in her arms, thanking Greg for rescuing her before taking off.

Colonel Truman watched the two Rangers and Sam and smiled to himself.

-----RPM-----

Back at the base, Dillon was sitting by the kitchen counter, after literally being kicked off the couch by Summer. He was watching Kaylee fix up dinner, and groaned when he saw her add in tuna.

"How long will this go on?" he asked her.

"I don't know," Kaylee frowned. "I'm still mad about not touching the dino bones in Dr. O's lair."

"So?" Dillon asked.

"That was... twenty-two years ago," Kaylee smirked.

Dr. K, Gem and Gemma walked into the room, followed closely by the Colonel and a soldier.

"Guys, the colonel..."

"... is here for something special!" Gem and Gemma said in their sing-song voices. The Rangers all exchanged looks as they assembled in a line before the colonel.

"I've been a soldier all my life," the colonel started, "and in that time, I've seen a lot of bravery. But Today, I witnessed a true hero."

The colonel was walking in front of the Rangers, and as he said this he stopped to look at Scott. The young Red Ranger was beaming in excitement, not because he was a hero, but because his father had finally recognised his actions. He had seen the danger and he led Greg and Sam through the fight to save him and the little girl. He also destroyed all the Grinders.

Scott spent years trying to please his father. He always wanted his father to be proud of him, but so far, had never succeeded. Truman never seemed to look at his youngest son the same way he looked at Marcus or Dr. K, or even Kaylee. Scott felt like he was a failure in his father's eyes, but now, he was being rewarded.

That medal wouldn't symbolize bravery to Scott, but it would symbolise how proud he made his father.

Unfortunately, the Colonel stepped right past Scott and moved onto Samantha and Greg.

"Samantha Brooks and Gregory Hartford, I would like to present to both of you the medal of valour, for the bravery you showed today in the battle against Venjix. Gregory, you stepped up and you took that little girl out of danger. Samantha, you're not a Ranger, but everyday you're out there protecting this city, its people and it's Rangers from danger. We are all very grateful."

Greg was beaming with excitement as he went to show the twins and Dr. K his medal. Gem and Gemma were jumping up and down, happy for their friend. They even promised to make him a card and throw him a party (with a game of pin the tail on the donkey) as a celebration.

Samantha played with her medal nervously as she looked over at Scott. She could see he was happy for her, after all, she did deserve it, but she knew he was angry; not at her, not at Greg, but at his father.

"Scott..."

Scott stepped away, moving to his car as Sam followed.

"I'm sure he's proud of you, Scott," Sam smiled softly, wrapping her arms around Scott's waist from behind as he leaned on his car, hiding his face from everyone.

"He's never said it, not once," Scott frowned. "I've done everything I can... and you and Greg just walk in and he rewards you guys! I've worked my ass off for him... I've followed in his footsteps and I've done everything he's ever asked of me, and he's never happy."

"If it helps... I'm proud," Sam smiled. "I'm proud of Scott Truman because of who he is. You could parade around here in boxers, scratching your ass while holding a can of god-knows-what, and I would still tell the world that you're mine."

"Thanks, Sam," Scott said, "It does help... but it doesn't..."

Sam shushed him before he could saw anything more. She put her head on his shoulder and kissed his neck.

"I know," she nodded.

"Guys, c'mon..."

"... it's party time!" Gem and Gemma beamed, grabbing Sam and pulling her away. Sam looked back at Scott as she was dragged off by the happy pill twins. He smiled at her and nodded. When she was gone, he pulled a picture out of his jacket. A tear escaped his eye as he looked down at it.

"What do you want from me?" he asked, looking at him father.

Kaylee and Dillon walked up to Scott, being the only two to stay out of the party. Kaylee was too busy with her tuna dinner to join, and Dillon wasn't a party person.

"I know that face," Kaylee smirked, leaning beside Scott. "That's your _I'm going to do something stupid to try and get my father to like me _face."

"I don't have a ... what's it face," Scott frowned.

Kaylee licked the spoon in her hand and nodded knowingly, "I never believe other people."

Dillon laughed as Kaylee spit up what was in her mouth, apparently dinner wasn't going to be all that good. He then looked at Scott.

"What she means is we're not letting you pull something stupid on your own," he said. "Now, we're going for take-out. If you join us, we might tag along on whatever adventure you got planned."

Kaylee frowned, "Take out? I'm making dinner!"

"I'm getting a little tired of tuna," Dillon smirked. He pulled the keys to his car out of his pocket and looked at Scott. "Is that a deal?"

Scott let out a small laugh and nodded, "It's a deal."

As the two boys got into the car, Kaylee's shoulders dropped as she looked at the spoon.

"But... I worked hard on dinner and..."

"Kaylee, are you coming for adult supervision, or are you going to leave me and Red alone for hours in the hot and sweaty wastelands?"

"Fine, but we eat leftovers tomorrow," she grumbled, crawling into the backseat (which was totally not made to fit a person).

"Right, left-over from the take out," Dillon smirked.

"No cookies for you!" Kaylee yelled, hitting the back of Dillon's head with the spoon. He groaned as he started the car, and Scott laughed slightly.

"Too bad, Dillon," he said, "her cookies are good."

-----RPM-----

After getting take out (Kaylee wanted seafood, but the boys agreed on pizza), Scott took the wheel. Dillon and Kaylee thought he was going to go out into the wastelands and vent his frustration out on a rock, but the more rocks they passed, the more the Black and former green Rangers started to wonder.

"Where are we going?" Kaylee finally asked.

Scott finally hit the brakes, jerking everyone in the car forward.

"Who am I kidding," Scott sighed, putting his head on the wheel. "I screwed up."

Dillon tapped Scott's back while Kaylee squeezed her head between the seats to look at him.

"Don't worry, you can have tuna when we get back," she assured him.

Dillon nudged her and Kaylee pulled back.

"Ow," she groaned.

Dillon rolled his eyes then looked over at Scott, "We all mess up, Scott," he said, "I mean, I told my girlfriend I wanted to kill her."

This was news to Kaylee as she perked up and glared at the Black Ranger, ready to kill. Dillon laughed nervously, putting his hands in the air. Kaylee continued to glare, but let him speak.

"Just because you make a mistake, doesn't mean you can't fix it, or that you can't try again," Dillon finished.

Scott nodded, but got out of the car. He needed room to think. Dillon and Kaylee exchanged looks before jumping out with him.

"Scott," Kaylee said, grabbing his arms so he would look at her. "Your father loves you, there is no doubting that."

"How did you..."

"I see it in your eyes every time he steps into the room, or every time you mention it," Kaylee said. "And, being a parent myself, I know that, no matter what your children have done, you still love them. They don't have to prove themselves to you, nor do they have to be heroes. As long as they are who they are..."

"I know that," Scott said. "But, he's the only family I have left, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't give me the time of day."

"Of course not," Dillon frowned. "Your morpher has a built in watch. Why would you need the time?"

Kaylee rolled her eyes at Dillon, hitting him with her special spoon once more. She then looked up at Scott with a huge smile on her face.

"He loves you, I promise," she said. "He's just, not the lovey-dovey kind of parent. And you do have to give him time. Maybe he's afraid to be close to you after losing Marcus. I'm sure he'll come around. And in the meantime, you have a bunch of other people that are proud of you. Yesterday I saw Christian running around in a red shirt saying 'I'm the red guy! Hear me roar!', and Sammy's always saying how proud she is of you. You've got more of a family than you know."

"But..."

"No buts!" Kaylee yelled playfully. "I'm 100% sure your father loves you and cares about you. I don't know about pride, but I'm pretty sure that if something happened to you, your father would turn into this angry and wild gorilla who would kill to save you. Never doubt his love and be patient."

Scott nodded, ready to get back into the car when his eyes caught something on the ground. He examined it closer and smiled.

"Human footprints," he said.

Kaylee looked down, then looked up at Scott.

"Of course they are," she said. "We're standing right here. I know I'm like... half robot, and Dillon's a little more than that, but I think we all qualify as humans."

"No," Scott lifted Kaylee up onto the top of the car, surprising her with his strength. He bent down to get a better look. "We're all wearing military boots. These look more like... worn down sneakers."

"And they continue," Dillon pointed out. Scott, Kaylee and Dillon followed the trail to a cliff. They looked down and spotted a small group of people walking through the wastes.

"Refugees," Scott smirked, "they must have escaped!"

"From where?" Kaylee asked.

Dillon remembered his flashback and smiled.

"The other warehouse!" he said.

"Aw man, there's more?" Kaylee groaned. "But we just destroyed one!"

"Exactly, one with workers!" Dillon smirked. "I bet this one has people like me! I bet those people were about to become me!"

"I bet they are going to become you," Scott said, pointing to where Grinders were riding up on bikes to catch up to the civilians.

"Let's go," Dillon said, stepping forward, but Scott and Kaylee had a different idea as they grabbed him and pulled him behind a bush.

"We can't just go in there like this!" Scott frowned. "We need to blend in to get on the inside."

Kaylee and Scott both looked over at Dillon with a smirk. The black Ranger looked at them and frowned.

"What?" he asked.

-----RPM-----

Dillon stepped out of the bushes pulling Scott, dressed up as a refugee, with one hand, while dragging a reluctant Kaylee with the other. Tenaya, with her visor down, spotted the Rangers after joining the Grinders and smirked.

"Well well, look what the Karly coughed up," she smirked. "A Rangers and the ring leader with a runaway."

"A Ranger?" Dillon laughed. "I wouldn't be caught dead with humans!"

Tenaya smirked. She was fully aware Dillon had reached the stage where Venjix could control him and figure, just by the way he was laughing, that Venjix' plan had finally worked.

"I found her trying to help the runaway escape," Dillon explained, throwing Kaylee and Scott into the group of refugees. "It's a good thing I decided to find you, Tenaya, or you would have missed them."

-----RPM-----

The Rangers got back from the party and noticed Scott, Dillon and Kaylee were gone. Worried, they approached Dr. K and the twins.

Sadly, they were no help.

"Even if you went out there, where would you begin to look for Scott, Dillon and Kaylee?" Dr. K asked after the Rangers proposed a search party in the wastes. "It's like finding a needle in a hay barn!"

"Uh, don't you mean haystack?" Ziggy asked.

"No, Ranger L-Green, searching a stack would be child's play, but a whole barn would be hopeless."

Mike cut in, looking at Ziggy, "You know, I once found a needle in a hay barn," he said. "My mom has a cousin who owns a farm, and it's filled with hay, and the girls and I were playing in it one day and..."

Dr. K glared at the D-green Ranger before continuing.

"I'm concerned too, but if they left, they put themselves in jeopardy. If we all leave, we put the city at risk!"

"But that's my mom!" Hayden argued.

"And my boyfriend!" Sam added.

Summer didn't speak up. She was too confused. Dillon wanted to kill her, and she should have hated him for that, but something inside her still loved him and cared for him.

Ziggy nudged her gently.

"This is where you say 'mine too'," he told her.

Summer nodded, but didn't speak up.

-----RPM-----

In the wastes, Scott and Kaylee were being loaded onto a truck, filled to the max with people. Of course, to prevent escape, Tenaya stuffed Kaylee in the way back, crammed between the wall of the truck and a wall of people.

Scott sat across from her, his hands tied to the seat, just like Kaylee's.

Suddenly, Kaylee started to feel dizzy. It was something she hadn't felt in a long time. Her hands started to sweat as her vision blurred. Her head was spinning and she found it hard to breathe.

Scott noticed this, and without raising suspicion he caught her attention.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

Kaylee could barely hear him but tried to respond. When she couldn't, Scott knew he had to change the plan.

He rubbed the rope against the seat quickly, weakening it until it was good to break. He did so in record time, then moved to the door of the truck just as a Grinder was getting ready to close it.

He pulled off the fabric covering his face and grinned, "Gotcha!"

The Grinder was taken by surprise and didn't' stand a chance as Scott knocked its head off. This alerted Tenaya and Dillon.

The Black Ranger was confused as to why Scott was attacking, but couldn't let him do this on his own. He turned to Tenaya and smirked.

"Venjix can't control me," he said, running over to help Scott.

Tenaya growled, clenching her fists. She had been fooled. Dillon played her, and by playing her, he had played Venjix.

"Master, did you get that?" she spoke into her wrist, where there was a small communication chip.

"_Yes I did, Tenaya 7, and I've got a plan. Let him and the others leave, but stay close, I'm downloading my plans into your system as we speak_."

Scott and Dillon finished off the Grinders as Tenaya ducked behind a rock, making it look like she retreated.

Before loading the refugees into the truck to take them to Corinth, Scott jumped in and moved beside Kaylee.

"Kaylee, you okay?" he asked her, tapping her cheek to try and wake her. Kaylee didn't move, so Scott called Dillon to lift her out.

The black Ranger took Kaylee to the front of the truck while Scott helped the refugees into the back. They were all loaded in quickly, and the boys drove back to the city. They were unaware that Tenaya had latched on to the back of their truck when the coast was clear for her, and she was stepping in with her.

-----RPM-----

Back in the city Scott hopped out of the truck to help the others out after calling for the military to open the shields.

Dillon was suddenly hit with another memory. He was back on the bed, still surrounded by people and Grinders. He turned to one girl, lying on the bed beside him.

He somehow felt a connection to her and tried to reach out. Just as he did, she turned around.

Dillon snapped out of his trance suddenly when Kaylee shifted.

"Hey," he smiled, still thinking of the memory. "Are you okay?"

Kaylee looked around, realising she was in the front of the truck. She nodded.

"Yeah."

"I had another flashback," Dillon told her. "I saw her..."

"Who?" Kaylee asked.

"I don't know," Dillon frowned, "but I saw some girl... and there was something... Maybe she's a link to what happened in that time... if I find her, I know my past."

Kaylee smiled, finding her strength after the panic attack to hop out of the truck. Dillon was right behind her.

When the refugees were gone, Colonel Truman approached the three. He had caught wind of what Scott, Dillon and Kaylee had done, and had seen the people thanking them.

He walked up to Kaylee and Dillon after seeing them get out of the truck.

"Kaylee, Dillon, on behalf of the..."

Dillon raised his hand in the air. "Stop, I know what you're going to say."

"Dillon, you deserve..."

"I don't deserve thanks or praise, at least, not like Scott. He led us through this rescue and took charge after Kaylee... lost it."

"I did not lose it," Kaylee pouted.

"He's the real hero," Dillon continued. "Not us."

Colonel Truman turned to his son, seeing him getting thanks and praise from the refugees he saved. He walked over to Scott.

He pulled a medal out from his jacket, one he planned on giving to Dillon and Kaylee when he heard they were returning with people from the wastelands.

"Scott," he smiled, "Those people are safe because of your well executed mission. It's my honour, to present you with a medal of valour."

The colonel put the medal around his son as the other Rangers drove up in Flynn's truck. They watched, happy Scott was getting what he wanted from his father.

Scott suddenly felt ill. The medal of valour was only to be presented to people who were truly brave and fought not for themselves or for personal gain, but for the safety and wellbeing of others. It was for people ready to sacrifice everything for progress and safety of Corinth.

Scott had acted selflessly when saving the people, but the reason he was out there was selfish. He wanted to go to the wastes and find some way to prove to his father he was a hero. By trying to prove he was a hero, he was doing the opposite. Heroes didn't try.

He pulled the medal off and gave it back to his father.

"Sir, I don't deserve this medal. I wasn't on a mission to save anyone. It all just happened. I left my post, without permission..."

"What am I? A can of tuna?" Kaylee muttered. "I totally let him go!"

"Look, in leaving Corinth, I jeopardized my friends and the entire city! This wasn't a rescue mission; it was a mission of pride. It wasn't heroic, it was selfish."

Scott put the medal in his father's hands and pulled back.

"The day I honestly deserve this, for acting without selfishness or pride, I would accept it, but that's not today."

Colonel Truman nodded and turned away. But before he did, he gave Scott a small smile.

Scott saw this and his heart warmed up. His father had never really smiled at him like he just did. He had only ever seen that smile when his father was looking at Marcus.

Samantha ran over to Scott with a smile on her face. She pulled him into a hug.

"I told you he's proud, Scott," she said. "You're his son."

Dillon watched the scene without paying much attention. He was happy for Scott, but there was something keeping his from focusing. His memory was bugging him. He had seen the girl beside him in the warehouse and he knew he needed to find her, but he had no idea where she was.

Suddenly, from behind his car, Dillon saw Tenaya step out, with her visor removed.

"That face," he said, looking at Tenaya. "I know that face!"

Tenaya had a small smirk as she let the Black Ranger stare at her. Venjix' plans were going perfectly. He had control of Dillon, and the Black Ranger didn't even know it.

Tenaya pretended to suddenly recognise Dillon and smiled.

"Dilly?" she called, disgusted at herself for sounding like such a school-girl. "Dilly... is... is that... you?"

Dillon was hit with another memory wave and suddenly remembered the name of the girl.

"Tenaya?" Dillon called.

Tenaya held her hand in her head, pretending her head was pounding. Dillon didn't know why, but he felt the need to help her.

He ran over to her, confusing the Rangers, and examined her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Dilly, I remember you," she managed to mutter through the _"pain_".

* * *

_Author's Note: Just so there is no confusion, there is no link between Tenaya and Dillon. To clear things up, she's playing him. Venjix is implanting Dillon with false memories to make him think there was a link between him and Tenaya. This will mean one of two things._

_1- Because Dillon and Summer aren't getting along (to put it nicely), Dillon will go with Tenaya and fight with her. By then, he'll be more robotic and Venjix will have more control._

_2- Tenaya gets in with the Rangers (much to all their dismay)._

_Which way I'll go, even I don't have a clue. I'm leaning towards one of the options because I find it'll bring more drama (and I love torturing my characters)._

_Anyways, feedback on the chapter is always great to hear! Let me know what you think!_


	27. True Lies

**_As mentioned in the previous author's note_**

_There is **no**_ link_ between Tenaya and Dillon. To clear things up, **she's playing him**. Venjix is **implanting Dillon with false memories** to make him **think** there was a link between him and Tenaya. Some of you seemed a little misguided and I wanted to make sure you all knew that. It was posted in the previous chapter, right at the bottom, that I had no intention of linking the two._

* * *

"You remember me?" Dillon asked.

"Yeah," Tenaya nodded. Her knees suddenly buckled and she fell into Dillon's arms. He held her up, supporting her weight as he tried to pull answers from her. "You and I... we were together in a cell before Grinders took us to the lab."

"Whoa... so this whole time, you and Dill Pickles have been tight?" Ziggy asked. "That would make sense!"

"Why?" Mike frowned, "They hate each other!"

"Exactly!" Ziggy nodded. "It's perfect! Venjix makes them hate each other so they'll beat each other up and no one feels guilty!"

Tenaya looked up at Dillon. She needed a quick way to reach him. Venjix could only do so much with memories. She needed to go along with them and make the whole thing seem real.

In his head, Dillon was seeing the lab. He also saw Tenaya on the bed beside him. He looked down at his hand.

To his surprise, he and Tenaya were holding hands.

Tenaya turned to him as the Grinders worked on her. In her final breathe before her transformation as complete, she muttered, "I love you."

"You... you love me?" Dillon asked, snapping back to reality.

Tenaya nodded, "I did... I... I think I still do."

Tenaya screamed, holding her head to pretend she was remembering something. In the middle of her memory, she started jerking around and screaming louder, as if Venjix was trying to stop the memories.

"Dilly, help me."

Dillon picked her up and walked to his car.

Summer had had enough. She ran over to him and grabbed his arm.

"You're just going to trust her, just like that?" she frowned. "Dillon, that's T7!"

"Summer, I remember her! She's got a link to my past! She can give me answers!"

"Dillon, you don't need answers..."

"I have a virus inside me," Dillon yelled, "And it's taking over! No one can stop it!"

"Dilly," Tenaya coughed, "He's in my head!"

"Dillon, she's playing you!" Summer said, pointing to Tenaya. She could tell, just by Tenaya's face that this was all just a game to her.

"Then how do I remember?" Dillon asked. "As soon as I saw her face, I remembered everything!"

"How do you know it's true?" Summer frowned.

"How do I know my memories of you are true?" Dillon said. "I remembered you the same way. I saw you. I saw Tenaya. There's no difference!"

"She's tried to kill us!"

"So did your cousin, and your Aunt and me," Dillon said, putting Tenaya in the car. Summer was right, to an extent, he couldn't fully trust Tenaya. But he needed answers and she seemed to be the only way to get them.

"Dillon..."

"Summer, you're a logical thinker," Dillon started, "but as soon as it comes to me, you think once and act. You see me attacking your sister, and I make the stupid move of saying, 'No dear, I wanted to kill you', and you jump off the deep end, without letting me explain. How do I know you're not playing me to keep me on this team?"

"It's not..."

"Choose, right now," Dillon growled, "Summer, Tenaya's the only clue I have right now. If you really do love me, you'll let me try and work this out."

Summer turned toe and walked. Dillon was being totally unreasonable.

"So, you're going to take her back to base?" Greg asked.

Dillon looked at Tenaya, who was grabbing his hand with a worried look plastered on her face. She seemed just as shaken up as he was. He wanted to give her a chance.

Another memory hit, this one a little further back from when Dillon and Tenaya were in a cell, waiting for their surgery. Dillon was holding Tenaya in his arms.

"We're going to die," Tenaya whispered.

"No, sunshine, I'll get us out of here. I promise."

"How?"

"I don't know, but as soon as I get out, I'll come back for you. I won't sleep until I find you again. You'll be safe."

Tenaya nodded, then reached into Dillon's pocket. She took out a key and smiled at him.

"I know you'll come back, but just in case," she smiled, putting the key around her own neck.

As Dillon was lost in this trance, Venjix downloaded a key around Tenaya's neck. It would fit perfectly with the pocket watch he carried around. Tenaya played with it, smirking until Dillon was back.

-----RPM-----

Dillon finally got back to the base, with Tenaya and set her down on the couch. As soon as he walked in with her, Summer stormed out.

Dillon rolled his eyes at the way she was acting. He knew she had a right to be mad, after all, he did tell her he wanted to kill her (it wasn't his fault, he is a guy after all), but she was being way too dramatic.

The black Ranger set Tenaya down on the couch. The other Rangers were about to walk away, but Dillon spoke up.

"I trust her more than you guys do... but not fully. If she is trying something, it would be safer for us to stick together," he said.

"Sounds reasonable," Flynn shrugged, falling back down onto the couch. The others stayed with him.

As Dani sat down, her hand flew up, smacking Tenaya on the back of the head. The former villainess looked over at the red head with a glare.

"Oops," Dani said. "Did I hit you?"

Ronny stepped into the room to work on the cars, but saw Tenaya and the Rangers sitting together. She found this odd and walked over to the group on the couches.

"Huh?" she stated simply, pointing to Tenaya.

Dillon shook his head, inviting Ronny to take a seat. When everyone was comfortable, he turned back to Tenaya.

"I want you to tell me everything you remember," he said.

Tenaya took a deep breath and nodded, stalling as Venjix downloaded the story into her systems so it could match the one he was giving Dillon. When the information was there, she wiped her eyes and pretended to shake from fear.

"I was in school when the bombs dropped, trapping a lot of us inside. I saw you running for the exit and tried to follow, but a bunch of Grinders caught me and took me away..."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," Dani frowned, not liking this story at all. She already had a hard time believing the robot, now she had to believe they were in the same school. "Backtrack, rewind, pause, shut up! You went to our school? How did we never meet up?"

"I wasn't the most popular student," Tenaya said, "And you guys, I mean, the daughter of Kaylee Ann Brooks, former Overdrive Green, and a current world famous singer! Twins Summer and... Samantha McKnight, the daughters of Kira McKnight, also world famous singer! Daniela 'Dani' Marks, daughter of world famous stock car driver Veronica 'Ronny' Chilman. If you guys weren't famous or popular, I don't know what the fuck you were."

"Go on," Mike pressed. He already heard a few mistakes in Tenaya's story. After all, when referring to his Aunt as Brooks, that meant her personal life. Whenever anyone, including Kaylee herself, would speak of her Ranger days or her music career, she would be referred to as Hanson. Sam went with Kira. When people spoke of her musically, she was a Ford, not a McKnight.

There was also the deal with the twins. Tenaya knew Summer's name, which was normal. She fought against Summer, heard it in battle so many times that it didn't strike Mike as odd. What did though was the pause when she tried to think of Sam's name. Tenaya's eyes rolled up into her head, as any human would when they tried to remember something. If Tenaya really had gone to school with Summer and Sam, then whether she was friends with the twins or not, she would have known Sam's name. After all, the girls were always talked about in the halls thanks to their mother's fame.

Then, there was his Aunt Ronny's last name. As with Kaylee and Kira, when talking about her public racing life, she still preferred to be referred to as Robinson.

All of this didn't add up, but Mike was willing to give Tenaya the benefit of the doubt. After all, if she was who she said she was, she had gone through such a traumatic event, and these were all just little details that could be anyone's mistake.

"Well," Tenaya continued, "I was taken to a warehouse and locked in a cage. Dillon came in a little while later and we were forced to share a cell together."

"So?" Hayden asked. "You shared a cell? Big whoop! Now, you're pure evil and he's a lost and confused, lonely, slightly psychotic and deranged puppy who Summer likes to save."

"We were both scared," Tenaya said, "So we decided to talk to each other to take our mind off what we thought was going to happen to us. I mentioned to Dillon that I was in some of his classes and we bonded from there."

"Bonding, whoo!" Hayden mock cheered once more. "I bonded with Mike when I was two and we took baths together to save water. Doesn't mean he and I are close like PB & J."

"But we are," Mike whispered. Hayden glared at her cousin, then grabbed his head and shoved him into the couch cushions.

"When I need help, I'll ask, okay Jelly?" she frowned.

Mike sat back up when he was released and recomposed himself so Tenaya could continue.

"We talked for so long, and bonded so well, that Dillon promised me he would bust out and save me before anything bad happened..."

Scott turned to Dillon when Tenaya stopped to let out a few fake tears. Mike glared at her. If she was faking, then she really had no dignity.

Scott patted Dillon on the back, "Any of this ring a bell, dude?"

"Loud and clear," Dillon nodded. "Everything she's saying matches perfectly with what I remember."

"So, what does this mean?" Dani asked.

"No, there's one more thing!" Dillon said, jumping up slightly and moving in front of Tenaya. "You took a key from me and put it around your neck..."

Dillon reached for Tenaya's neck and grabbed a chain. He pulled the necklace out from her shirt and held it up. On the end, there was a key that matched the one he wore.

"She's not lying," he said. "This is the key I let her take from me, as a promise that I would come back for her. I promised I would find her, not matter what! And when I woke up, all I knew was that I had to look for someone! I remember calling her sunshine... she's... she's the girl from my dreams, not Summer!"

"Insert really dramatic music and fade to commercial," Ronny said as all the other Rangers turned to Dillon.

There was a really long and awkward silence. No one knew what to say. Scott, Flynn, Greg and Ziggy were a little surprised to hear Dillon's past change so dramatically, but Mike, Dani and Hayden were trying to contain their rage.

"You're believing her bullshit?" Mike asked Dillon, stepping up in front of him. "She randomly starts holding her head in pain and you believe the crap coming out of that cyber mouth?"

"Our stories match!" Dillon argued. He refused to back down to Mike. He knew his life, but there was still that gap he was desperate to fill.

"Oh yeah, and you're going to match your memories to that of a robot's?" Greg snorted. "Hello, my father used to be a robot, his memories were programmed into him so that even he believed that he had a childhood when in reality my father is only a few years older than I am!"

Dani looked up at Greg, a little disgusted at that fact. Unlike him, she didn't know her Uncle Mack used to be an android.

"Ew," she said, stepping away.

"Look, you guys can believe what you want, but I want to fill the gap that's been haunting me and it seems Tenaya is the only way!" Dillon yelled "After all, is it not Dani who always says _no risk, no reward?_"

"Look, if you guys are angry because you think this is a trap, I'm okay with that," Tenaya said in the softest, sweetest and most innocent voice she could muster. "I don't care if you monitor me 24/7. I just... I remember something important and I don't want to go back to Venjix... especially now that I know I can live a better life."

"Dillon, consider the facts," Ronny said, finally speaking up. "Out of nowhere she remembers everything? Just, all of a sudden?"

"You know what," Hayden frowned, "She can stay here."

Jaws were on the floor at Hayden's statement, but the blonde kept going.

"But, she will be monitored 24/7 by every one of us. She will never leave the garage, for any reason, and she will do as we say, when we say it at all times. She is never to be left alone, not even in the bathroom, and if we suspect even a little bit of treachery, she's G-O-N-E, gone!"

Hayden looked down at Tenaya, "Got it, robo-princess?"

"I got it," Tenaya nodded. "I'm willing to do anything to prove to you guys I'm loyal."

"Loyal to who?" Ziggy asked.

"Corinth," Tenaya answered.

Hayden nodded then bent down so she was looking right at Tenaya. Eye for eye, no one was blinking.

"Now, this question will determine your fate in the house. If you get it wrong, you will live a long and painful life. Get it right, and things just might be smooth sailing for all of us."

Tenaya shifted her position slightly, but didn't back down.

"I'm ready."

"Do you... like tuna?"

Tenaya let out a small chuckle, "Seriously?"

Hayden nodded, "My mom's got a slight fixation on the fish and this could go on for years. Her last fixation was when I was three; she started making them back then, and still does now."

"I... think I can live with that," Tenaya answered. Hayden seemed disappointed as she stood up straight and turned away.

Tenaya glanced over at Dillon, "Tuna?"

"I take full blame for that one," Dillon admitted. "I should have just told her the sandwich was good."

Dillon took a spot next to Tenaya and the two began chatting away for hours. The others left slowly. Dillon was a big boy after all, if he wanted to trust Tenaya and knew the consequences of doing so then he would be left alone.

After the first hour, Summer stepped out of her room and sat on the edge of the top floor, looking down at Dillon and Tenaya.

They were getting closer and closer as they spoke about their past and Dillon got the information he wanted. Summer wasn't too pleased with this. Of course, if Dillon got to learn about his past and what happened to him, she would support him, but because she was still mad at him for trying to kill her she pushed him away.

Now she was afraid she pushed him right into the arms of the first available girl.

Kaylee was walking to her bedroom, with a plate of tuna sandwiches, when she saw Summer sitting on the ground, looking down at Dillon. She sighed and joined her niece, offering her a sandwich. Summer took and smiled softly.

"Think I was too hard on him?" she asked her aunt. Kaylee laughed at this.

"You think?" she said. "Summer, you didn't give him a chance to explain!"

"He said he wanted to kill me!"

"Doesn't mean he did," Kaylee shrugged. "I talked to Hayden about this and she said it was the virus inside Dillon taking control."

If Summer didn't feel guilty before, she definitely did now. Seconds ago the virus was the furthest thing from her mind. She had forgotten all about it. She had assumed the worst as soon as she saw Dillon attacking her sister.

"The virus," she groaned, hitting her head on the safety rail. "I'm so stupid."

"You're allowed at least one blonde moment in your life," Kaylee smirked, patting her blonde niece on the head. "You just used one up."

"I didn't even consider the fact that the virus could have taken over!"

Summer hopped up from the ground and started making her way over to Dillon. From behind the couch, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Dillon, I think we need to talk," she started.

Dillon shook his head, "I thought you were mad at me," he said.

"I was... but I..."

Dillon shook Summer off and stood up, "Summer, you've never given me the chance to talk, why should I let you now?"

"Dillon, it's important..."

"Summer, so was what I had to say," Dillon said, almost mocking his girlfriend.

"Why won't you listen?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

Summer screamed, turning around and storming off, something she found she was doing a lot of lately. Dillon fell back onto the couch and sighed.

"You were right, Tenaya, now that she sees you and me she's getting jealous," Dillon told Tenaya. She nodded.

"I know this will be hard for your friends to accept, I've done some pretty bad..."

"Tenaya, you weren't yourself," Dillon smiled. "It wouldn't be fair for you if they judged you based on who you were told to be, instead of who you are. They know what Venjix can do to people. Anyways, you got permission from the princess to stay. How about you go get washed up and ready for bed. I'll set up the couch for you."

Tenaya nodded and stood up. Then, she boldly kissed his cheek and slowly tried to pulled away. As she did, she whispered in his ear.

"You know, if you were mine, I would never question you. I know just how loyal you are."

Tenaya pulled away, glancing up at Summer who was looking down from the second floor. Summer growled, slamming her hand on the railing and retreating into her bedroom, eyes soaked in tears and her heart crushed. Her only hope now was that Dillon would see through the lies.

Dillon watched Tenaya walk away and felt something strange bubble up inside him. He wanted to push it away, but it felt really good. He had never felt this way before now. Was it love? Did he and Tenaya actually have a romantic relationship before he broke out of prison?

Whatever he was feeling, he wanted more of it. So when Tenaya got back from the bathroom he pushed her onto the couch and jumped on top of her.

Before anything could happen, little Dani popped her head up from behind the couch, scaring Dillon and Tenaya.

"Do any of you have something I could use to dry my hands?" Dani asked. Dillon groaned, just wanting to be alone. He ripped off his jacket and gave it to the young red head. Dani snatched it from him, purposely hitting Tenaya with the zipper.

"Oops, did I hit you, again?" she asked.

"Yes," Tenaya nodded.

"Just checking," Dani smirked, pushing herself up using the couch and walking away to let Dillon explore his feelings with Tenaya.

Dani snuck into the boys' room and shut the door, "You do _**not**_ want to go out there!" she said, breathing deeply.

"Why?" Greg asked, laughing as he came to her side. He picked her up and carried her to his bed.

Dani turned white as a sheet as she thought about why, so the boys didn't press the subject.

"All I can say is," Dani started, "I really don't trust Tenaya, but I think Dillon does..."


	28. Twisted Past, Corrupted Present

Summer had a sick feeling in her stomach that morning when she walked into the kitchen and saw Tenaya making breakfast for the Rangers. Of course, Ronny was watching carefully, but that didn't do it for Summer.

The yellow Ranger also suspected something sneaky was going on. Dillon was still sleeping on the couch, in his boxers with the sheets twisted around him. Dillon never slept on the couch. He slept in many odd places, such as his car, or the floor, or even the table when he felt like being a jackass to the early risers.

And on top of all that, Dillon never really slept. He closed his eyes and rested, but a deep sleep never really happened for the black Ranger. Summer knew Dillon was in a deep sleep because Karly was sitting on him, poking him with her claws trying to wake him so he would serve her her early morning breakfast like he always did.

"You stupid human," Karly grumbled, trying her best to cause Dillon pain so he would wake up. "You choose today of all days to sleep in! I want my food, human, and I want it now!"

Karly started gnawing at Dillon's ear, hoping it would wake him.

Summer tried to smile as she lifted the cat off Dillon and carried her to the kitchen. Karly started cuddling with Summer, thanking her for waking.

"You're my favourite human. When I take over the world, you'll be the first to die so you won't suffer."

Summer didn't respond. She simply put Karly in front of her food bowl and poured her the food.

Tenaya was now done with making the meal, so Ronny walked off to get to work on the Zords. Gem and Gemma decided to have a little "fun" in the Zord bay and now Ronny had to fix up the Lions, the Bear, the Chicken and the Dolphin.

Now, both girls, with an eye for Dillon, were alone in the kitchen with the demonic cat.

"So..." Tenaya started, knowing things were going to be awkward. "You know I don't want to get between you and Dillon..."

"You just want to get under him," Karly spoke. Summer's eyes widened as she turned to Tenaya, looking as if she was ready to kill with nothing but the spoon and the paper plate set before her. Tenaya looked down at the cat, wondering three things.

First, the cat could talk?

Second, how did the cat know what happened?

Third, how the hell did she not sense the cat at all during the night?

"You were where?" Summer growled. Tenaya could sense a bit of hostility coming from Summer and the smirk on the cat's face was no helping her feel at ease.

Karly knew her job was done, so she hopped off, "I'm going to find the lucky socks now. You two girls play nice."

"Oh, we'll be playing nice," Summer smirked, "What the fuck did you and Dillon do last night?"

"Nothing, it was all innocent!" Tenaya tried, raising her hands up in defence. "He was curious so I explained a few things to him."

"You slept with him!" Summer yelled.

Tenaya blushed, but kept her ground, "So? I loved him first! You ran the first chance you got and left him to die!"

Dillon was woken up by the bickering and walked into the kitchen.

Tenaya decided now was the best time to play her cards. When Dillon was close enough, she yelled.

"You left Dillon to die, without promising to look for him or come for him! You used him! Once you were out safe you ran for yourself! You never cared about him!"

"I do care," Summer argued, "I've been worried about him for three years!"

"You forgot who he was! I've never forgotten the face of the man I love!"

"You just remembered him yesterday!"

"I was brainwashed," Tenaya growled, "But I know, deep down, I knew who he was."

"You're full of bullshit," Summer yelled, throwing her plate and spoon at Tenaya.

"Girls!" Dillon finally yelled, breaking the verbal assault. "Will you both calm down?"

"No," the two huffed, turning away from each other.

"Look, Summer, can't you just accept the fact that I've got another girl in my life! She's here to help me figure out my past!"

"Dillon, you're being played!" Summer frowned. Dillon looked at her before he was hit with a great deal of pain in his head.

He saw a flashback of the day of the evacuation at the school, or a variation of what he remembered. He saw Summer turning and running as soon as a path for her was cleared. She didn't look back to make sure he was okay.

His memories changed to a few days later. He was in the warehouse, being walked to his cell by a human Tenaya. The Grinders had taken her to help with the prisoner.

Dillon had been beaten up badly and could barely move on his own. The human Tenaya was holding him up as well as she could. Dillon turned to get a better look at her.

Her arm had almost been torn off of her body, but she was still whispering comforting words into his ear, telling him he would be okay and that she would be with him. No matter how much pain she must have been in, he was her first priority.

"Being played by who, Summer?" Dillon asked, "The girl who left me to die in a building, or the girl who took care of me, even when she was in a worst condition?"

"What...?"

"You left me to die!" Dillon yelled. "You turned around and you ran!"

"I..." Summer couldn't refuse that. When Dillon had saved her, she did turn and run, but only because he told her to do so.

"You didn't give a damn about me, your best friend," Dillon continued, "But Tenaya barely even knew me, and she cared for me."

"You're going to trust her over me?" Summer asked.

Dillon didn't know why, but he did. Something inside him told him that Tenaya was right. Everything inside him told him to listen to his head.

Except his heart.

Venjix may have been controlling Dillon's entire body and mind at this point, but the one spot he couldn't control was something that wasn't tangible. It was something no one could touch. No one but Summer.

His heart.

Unfortunately, Dillon didn't listen to his heart. He was already too confused to factor in the emotions from his heart.

"Yes, Summer, I choose her."

Summer broke down in tears as Dillon took Tenaya to his car, ready to leave. Neither of them wanted to stay where they weren't welcomed. The Yellow Ranger screamed, bringing everyone out of their sleep and rushing into the kitchen.

Mike saw Summer breaking down and beating herself up, so he quickly ran over to her and pulled her into his arms.

Hayden and Dani looked around for Dillon. They saw his car was gone and knew he was as well.

"I'm going to kill that son of a bitch," Hayden frowned. Dani put her hand on Hayden's shoulder.

"Wait your turn," she said.

The two stepped forward, until Dani heard the two words she loathed.

"Dani, wait!"

She turned to Greg and frowned, "I know you don't feel like this is your family, Greg, but it is, and right now that lying, fucking, cheating, son of a bitch, jackass turned his back on all of us, and on Summer!"

"Oh... I know that," Greg chuckled, pulling out his morpher. "I was just gonna ask you to wait until we were all ready to go."

Dani smirked, raising her hand in the air and opening her mouth...

"I DRIVE!" Hayden managed to say first, stealing the keys from Ronny. Ronny laughed at her niece, as she got in the car. Dani turned to look at her mother then at the team.

"Not fair!"

"I know," Flynn agreed, crossing his arms. "She's not the official driver!"

-----RPM-----

Dr. K, Gem, Gemma and Kaylee were all watching the monitors. Thanks to Dr. K's paranoia about the Rangers, they were able to watch Dillon

Dr. K looked up at Kaylee.

"Well, Kaylee, what do we do now that Dillon's made up his mind?"

Kaylee frowned, looking at the monitor where a black dot was quickly escaping the city.

"She'll bring him back," Kaylee breathed, trying to keep hope, "Dillon's worth saving, Summer knows that."

-----RPM-----

Summer was riding her bike right behind the new RPM truck Ronny had made for the entire team. She couldn't sit with them and endure their pity for the whole ride. She needed to breathe and she needed to clear her head.

She also needed to get her feelings for Dillon straight. She did love him after all.

Love? Okay, she had strong feelings for him. Feelings that could possibly develop into love one day. Maybe one day when Tenaya wasn't being such a bitch.

Now that Tenaya was in her head, Summer felt a strong need to crash her bike, just to watch something get destroyed and go up in flames. She now fully understood why Gem and Gemma were always so... boomy.

Summer had to admit, she was extremely jealous of Tenaya now that she and Dillon were getting closer, but she didn't want that to stop Dillon from learning about his past. If anything Summer wanted him to know everything, and do everything in his power to know.

Unfortunately, Summer had a feeling in her gut that Tenaya was lying; but with no proof, Summer was coming across as the possessive, jealous and selfish girlfriend.

She had been hurt deeply when she learned of Tenaya and Dillon's first night. It pained her to know Dillon would throw away everything for the robotic android bitch that had tried to kill him for months and months prior to suddenly "remembering" a non-existent past between them.

Call it girlfriend's intuition, or call it jealousy, but Summer knew Tenaya was lying and she was ready to do anything to get the man she loved away from her.

Dammit, there was that word again. Love.

"I don't love him!" Summer muttered under her breath. "It's... a mutual agreement for a commitment with feelings of deep fondness towards the other person. Oh, that's a lie. I love him. I've really got to stop with the warm milk and talks with Dr. K before bed... I sound like her."

"_Uh, Summer, where did you go?"_

Summer heard Hayden's voice in her helmet and slammed her breaks. She looked around and didn't see the truck anywhere.

"I think I'm lost," she spoke.

"_You think, lass?"_ Flynn asked. _"We lost you ten minutes ago. We've been calling you ever since, but this is the first time you answer."_

Summer rolled her eyes. She must have gotten so lost in thought that she forgot to follow the truck.

"Don't worry about me guys, I'll call you if I need any help. It's probably better if we split up."

"_You sure, Sum?" _Mike asked. _"Splitting up is never a good idea, never mind when we split up as a big group, and you."_

"Please?" Summer begged sweetly. Mike pictured her puppy face in his head and couldn't refuse.

"_Fine. But call if you need anything!"_

Summer closed the communication and hopped off her bike. She took off her helmet, allowing her to regain her peripheral vision.

She saw Tenaya kicking around some rocks, looking for something. Summer threw her helmet down and walked over to her rival.

"Found you," she smirked. "Where's Dillon?"

"He's resting," Tenaya smirked. "We found a cave not too far from here. He's taking a break from the walk and I'm just looking for food to gather."

Summer scoffed, "Quit the act, Tenaya. You know I don't believe you."

"I don't care if you believe me, yellow Ranger," Tenaya said, putting down what she had gathered in her arms. She walked over to the yellow Ranger with a menacing smile. "I just need Dillon to believe me. And it's easy to do with Venjix implanting memories into his brain."

"I knew it!" Summer yelled. "I knew none of this was real!"

"Some of it is real," Tenaya said. "I am growing quite fond of Dilly... maybe when he leaves you, I'll take him for myself."

"Not going to happen," Summer smirked. She looked to the side, "You said he was in a cave?"

Summer tried to sprint off, but Tenaya's reflexes allowed her to grab Summer's arm and throw her into the dirt.

"You're not going anywhere, sister."

Summer tried to pick herself up, But Tenaya kicked her in the stomach, forcing her onto her back. She raised her arm in the air as a laser came out. Summer looked up in horror.

"You wouldn't," she said, struggling to break away, but Tenaya put her knee on her stomach, pinning her down. "How are you going to explain my death to Dillon and the others?"

"Oops?" the blaster powered up before a strong beam of light hit Summer. She screamed loudly, feeling the pain

And knowing her ptera scream would be heard by Dillon and possibly the others. She kept her scream up until her world blacked.

Tenaya stood up, holding one hand over her ear.

"Damn, that was loud," she said.

-----RPM-----

On the monitors, Kaylee was following the yellow dot closely ever since Summer separated from the group. But when it disappeared suddenly she started hitting the screen. Dr. K was trying desperately to get her to calm down so she wouldn't hurt the equipment.

"Summer!" she yelled, hoping to pick up an audio transmission. She hit the monitor again, almost knocking it off the wall.

Dr. K walked over to the intercom, "Mrs. Marks, you're insane former team-mates is annoying me. Will you please stop working on the cars you seem to adore so much and get her to shut up."

Kaylee glared at the doctor until Ronny walked in, using a rag to get the oil off her hands.

"What happened?" she asked.

"We lost Summer's bio signal," Kaylee explained. Ronny's eyes widened as she turned to the monitors.

Red, Blue, Pink, Dark Green, Light Green, Silver and Gold were bunched together, moving quickly.

Black was off in the distance, away from the other coloured dots, but close to a brown dot, which signified attack-bots, or in this case, Tenaya.

Kaylee pointed to the brown one, "Summer was right there when her signal dropped."

"And dropped signal means..." Ronny asked.

"A dropped coloured signal means that..."

"... either Summer isn't a human anymore, in which..."

"... case her yellow dot would turn brown..."

"... or she's dead."

"Perfect," Ronny growled, looking at Kaylee, "Just perfect."

"You ready twin two?" Kaylee smirked, throwing on her Green RPM mentor leather racing jacket.

"I think I am, twin one," Ronny nodded.

"Rescue mission," both laughed, high-fiving and running into the garage to take Ronny's car into the wastelands.

Gem and Gemma stepped up beside Dr. K, crossing their arms over their chests.

"We hate..."

"... twin speak."

Dr. K paused and looked at the two before shaking it off. She knew better than to question their logic.

-----RPM-----

Dillon was resting in the cave he and Tenaya found when a piercing scream pulled him from a dream. He grumbled, pushing himself up. His dream was another memory, linking him and Tenaya together.

He stepped out of the cave and looked around for the source of the scream. He used his enhanced vision to search the distance. There was no one for miles.

"Did I dream it?" he asked himself.

Suddenly, a hand dropped on his shoulder. Dillon whipped around, grabbing the hand until he saw Tenaya.

"Where the hell did you come from?" he asked her.

"I went to find food," Tenaya smirked. "I forgot it was a post-apocalyptic world and all form of life in inside the two domed cities."

Dillon rolled his eyes and smiled. He couldn't help but remember the months he spent in his car, roaming the wastelands in search for food, water and Summer.

"_TENAYA!"_ a voice yelled in his head, correcting him. Dillon nodded, listening to the voice. After all, it had been right so far.

"So, where do we go now?" Dillon asked.

"Venjix," Tenaya smirked, taking Dillon's hand in hers. Dillon pulled away, a little surprised.

"Venjix?"

"I know it's weird, but he doesn't know we're together now, and fighting against him. I can convince him to cure us, and let us go!"

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Dillon asked.

"Just, trust me, please?"

"_Listen to her, Dillon. Tenaya knows what's best for you. She cares about you and she always had."_

The voice was telling Dillon Tenaya was right, so Dillon listened. He had no idea who the voice was, he just knew he had to do what the voice said. He nodded to Tenaya and the two started walking off.

As Tenaya held Dillon's hand, she scanned him for Venjix hardware.

_95% robotic._

She smirked to herself. Within a matter of hours, Dillon's transformation would be complete and he would work for Venjix, without question.

-----RPM-----

Summer opened her eyes and saw the dark sky above her. She groaned loudly as she rolled onto her side and began coughing madly.

Something from her stomach came up as she coughed. Summer felt sick and she was in so much pain, she didn't think she could move.

She grabbed her morpher and pressed the buttons, "Mike, Hayden?"

She waited a few minutes, but there was no answer. She tried again, only to get the same results. She screamed, smashing her morpher on a nearby rock.

She was on her own.

She rolled over to the other side and could see both Corinth and NewTech from where she was lying. Though the two cities were a great distance apart, the land was flat and allowed her to see so much farther than usual.

She knew she could make it to the other cities, at least alive, and then get help. She was in pain, yes, but she was tough. If she got close enough, someone would pick up her signal and let her back in.

She rolled over to the other side. To her surprise she could see Venjix' palace in the distance. After Tenaya told Summer the truth, she knew that would be where the robot-bitch would take Dillon.

Now, Summer had a choice. Either walk back a few miles to Corinth or NewTech, which would guarantee her survival, or risk everything to try and save Dillon before it was too late.

Summer let out a sob as she struggled to pull her jacket off. The wastelands were hot and she didn't need that weighing her down. When she jacket was off, she pushed herself up, holding her stomach with one hand and balancing herself with a rock on the other hand. Slowly, but surely, she began walking.

-----RPM-----

Kaylee and Ronny were driving in a straight line from Corinth, looking around for any sign of Summer, or the rest of the team.

Ronny was at the wheel, driving as fast as she could, while keeping her eyes on the road before her. Anything would catch her attention in hopes that it would be Summer.

Kaylee was sitting shot-gun, with a small device in her hand. On the screen were the signals of the other Rangers. She had already contacted them to tell them Summer had dropped off the mat, and they should return to Corinth to protect the city. As soon as Venjix heard that two Rangers were gone, and the others were out looking for them, he would target Corinth. Kaylee couldn't have that.

She thought it best if the Rangers returned home and she and Ronny went to search for Summer, and hopefully Dillon.

Ronny suddenly slammed on the breaks and hopped out of the car. Kaylee undid her seatbelt and opened the door. She looked over and saw Ronny holding up a jacket.

"It's Summer's," Ronny said, showing Kaylee the logo of the number three, designed to look like a bear, on the back.

Ronny held the jacket close and looked back at the city.

"You think she went home?" Kaylee asked. "I mean, if she dropped it, she must be alive."

"I didn't see her on the way here," Ronny frowned. "If Summer did drop it and did try to walk back, we definitely would have seen her."

"You don't think she went after him, do you?" Kaylee said. She blocked her eyes from the light and looked at the palace in the distance.

"She's stubborn, determined and believes Dillon's worth saving," Ronny sighed. "Do the math."

Kaylee's head dropped back as she tried to hide the tears. She was growing more and more worried about her niece. After all, it wasn't all that long ago Summer was just a little baby, who needed someone to watch over her every hour of the day. Kaylee remembered those days, and remembered how much she loved her nieces and nephew. As soon as they were born, she was ready to die for them. They meant the world to her.

"C'mon," Ronny said, throwing Summer's jacket over her shoulder and getting back in the car, "We might be able to catch up to her."

Kaylee nodded, inside. Ronny started the engine once more and took off, keeping the wheel as straight as possible.

As they drove off, the right wheels ran over the broken pieces of Summer's morpher.


	29. Matters of the Heart

"Watch your head," Tenaya warned Dillon, leading him through a sewage system.

"Do you seriously walk through here every time?" Dillon asked, growing a little suspicious, but didn't feel strongly enough to turn back.

"Every time I want to betray someone," Tenaya smirked. Dillon stopped dead in his tracks and glared at Tenaya.

"You mean something," he said. "Venjix isn't human..."

Tenaya looked back at him, a little worried, "b-but he is... alive."

Dillon noticed the hesitation, but didn't let it go to his head. After all, he couldn't. He had no idea about Venjix' control on him, and as long as the virus was still inside him, Dillon would believe anything Venjix told him to believe.

Tenaya lead Dillon to the end of the tunnel they were in then knocked on the wall. Instantly, the wall opened up, allowing the two inside. Tenaya stepped in first and turned around to smile at Dillon.

"C'mon, Dilly," she called.

Dillon grinned, running over to Tenaya and catching her in his arms. He spun her around before his eyes noticed the room.

It was dark and boring, not what Dillon was expecting at all. There was also a chair in the middle. It reminded Dillon of the dentist's chair. The only real differences were the straps.

"Where are we?" he asked, setting Tenaya down. She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the chair, placing him between it and her.

"Home," she answered, pushing Dillon into the chair and quickly strapping him in. Dillon struggled, until the voice in his head told him no. He listened and watched as Grinders appeared from the walls. One was holding a small device. He moved the device over Dillon then showed Tenaya the results.

Tenaya frowned at the Grinder after reading the machine and quickly disposed of him.

"I don't get it," she muttered, walking over to Dillon, "Eight hours ago I scanned you!"

"You... you..." Dillon stopped. For some reason his mouth stopped working.

"You were at 95%!" Tenaya continued. "I scan you again, and expect something closer to completion, and you're still at 95%!"

"Well, then, Tenaya, I guess we must see which part of him isn't machine yet."

Dillon recognised the voice from the last time he met Venjix and felt a full range of mixed emotions. Because of the virus, he felt loyal to Venjix. He was happy his master was here to tell him what to do. He was also a little worried. Every underling was when it came to their master.

On the other hand, Dillon felt fear. Not fear of Venjix, but fear of what was going on. He was also angry. Though 95% of him didn't agree there was a small part of him that knew he had been used. It was the same part that was constantly reminding him of Summer.

How hurt she look whenever she saw him and Tenaya together.

How angry she was when she wanted to talk, and he refused.

The worry in her eyes when she spoke to Dillon about Tenaya.

She was right all along, but Dillon didn't listen to her. He listened to whatever was telling him to do otherwise, because it had a stronger voice in his head.

Dillon knew that was the one part that wasn't robotic, and it was never going to change. Dillon put an image of Summer in his head and kept it there in hopes that he would remain, at least, at 95%.

When Venjix stepped in the room, everyone noticed he looked a little different. His body was, for lack of better words, uglier. But as everyone knew, usually when a monster was really ugly, it was also really powerful (sometimes it was weak, but hey, what can you do? They don't all have potential).

-----RPM-----

Summer stumbled as she walked across the wastelands, towards the giant palace that seemed to be getting further and further away. Every muscle in her body ached and wanted her to drop. Her mouth was dry and needed water, and her stomach, though it was killing her, needed food.

She had many gashes, some just surface wounds, others as deep as could be, that were threatening to rip her body apart if they were pulled at once more.

"Stupid laser," she muttered to herself, pushing off a large rock to keep herself on her feet. As she pushed off, she fell the other way. On her way down, she cursed her mother's horrible balance (Kira wasn't the most graceful of people sometimes, and apparently it was genetic).

Once her body hit the dirt, Summer couldn't get back up. She tried to push herself up, but she was too weak.

Her body had gotten what it wanted: rest. Unfortunately, her brain knew that meant death, and Summer wasn't ready to give up. But her brain wasn't the one pushing to get her to stand, that was her body's job.

Summer screamed loudly. Her body and brain were arguing, and they were getting nowhere. Summer tried, one final time, to lift herself off the ground.

She got a few inches into the air when her muscles gave in and she landed on her stomach, on the ground. Her fists slammed into the dirt as she began to sob.

-----RPM-----

"Go faster!" Kaylee told the race car driver. Ronny could only groan.

"I AM!" she said.

"Faster!" Kaylee demanded.

"Kayl, this thing doesn't go faster!"

"Well, try," Kaylee said. Ronny turned to her for a moment and frowned.

"How do I try?" she asked.

"Pedal to the metal?"

"Already there! Unless you want me to push through the ground..."

"STOP!" Kaylee yelled, suddenly, causing Ronny to groan.

"Okay, choose, faster or stop!"

"STOP, STOP, STOP!" Kaylee said, pointing. Ronny followed her point and saw a figure lying in the dirt on the road before her.

"Stopping!" she said, slamming on the breaks. Before the car was fully stopped, Kaylee pulled off her belt, opened the door and hopped out. She ran over to the figure and rolled her over.

The car stopped a few feet in front of Kaylee and the figure and Ronny jumped out. She grabbed water from the back seat and tossed it to Kaylee.

"Summer," Kaylee called, catching the water and trying to wake her niece. "C'mon, kiddo, I know you haven't given up."

Kaylee put the water bottle to Summer's lips and made her drink it. When Summer had enough, she started to cough and open her eyes.

"Aunt Kaylee?" she asked weakly. Kaylee nodded, hugging Summer close. Ronny smiled down at the two.

As Kaylee took care of Summer, Ronny looked around.

She could still see two bubbles in the distance: Corinth and NewTech. If they wanted, they could go back there and get Summer some real...

Bubbles? Ronny frowned. No wonder the cities were so vulnerable to attack! The last two cities on earth were basically two little, poppable bubbles, with overrated shields around them.

"Sad..." Ronny sighed.

She turned around and looked at the Venjix palace. It was towering over them now, and surely Venjix would have picked up on their bio-signals by now.

Ronny knelt down beside Kaylee and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Kayl, if we want to go then we have to go... now."

"No," Summer argued, squirming out of Kaylee's arms. With a little force, she got to her feet and started walking.

She was wobbling slightly, giving her the appearance of a child, trying to walk for the first time. This made Kaylee even more protective. She tried to go over to Summer and support her, but Ronny grabbed her hand.

"Remember when Dustin was possessed?" she asked. "When he was trapped by Dai Shi... you told me you were willing to do anything to get him back."

Kaylee looked over at Summer then back at Ronny and sighed.

"She can't go in alone."

"She won't," Ronny smirked. "C'mon."

The two women followed Summer. They stayed close in case she needed help; someone to pick her up when she fell, or rescue her in case she got in danger. But they were far enough away to let Summer do this on her own.

-----RPM-----

Dillon tried to fight the voice in his head, but it was getting louder and louder. It was telling him to give into the power and let himself be controlled.

But Dillon was a rebel. He listened to no one but himself.

He continued to think of Summer. Just thinking of her gave him enough power to fight. He thought of her smile, her laugh, the way she felt in his arms. The way she looked at him when she was angry...

No... where did that come from? Dillon cleared his mind for a second then returned to Summer.

He loved the way she cared deeply about her family and the way she hated him now.

God, these negative thoughts had to stop! Why did they keep popping up?

Suddenly, for the first time since he woke up all those months ago, Dillon was hit with the biggest wave of guilt imaginable. These thoughts were popping up because Dillon knew he had done Summer wrong. The woman he loved, he had hurt. He slept with another girl behind Summer's back. He pushed her away when she wanted to get close and when the going got tough between them, he ran off.

Not only did he run off, but he ran away with the woman he slept with behind Summer's back and who had betrayed him, just like he had been warned.

Summer wasn't going to come for him. Who would? He had done her wrong.

"Um... Venjix," Tenaya spoke catching both Venjix' and Dillon's attention. "Sensors are picking up two... three? Almost three? Two and something..."

"Get on with it," Venjix growled.

"Scanners are picking up humans," Tenaya stated.

Venjix growled, walking over to the scanners. He saw Tenaya was right and cursed under his breath.

"It seems you have a few friends," he said to the Black Ranger.

Dillon already knew who the _'something'_ was that was confusing Tenaya. It was Kaylee. She was still recovering from when she had turned into a Venjix drone and still had parts inside her.

He had no idea who the other two could be. All he knew was that it was definitely not...

"Summer?" Dillon said as Venjix pulled a video up on the monitor. Summer was already inside the palace, using the walls for support as she tried to find Dillon.

"Your human search party is pathetic," Venjix laughed, noting Summer's weak and injured form. "Tenaya, take care of her."

Dillon pulled harder on his restraints, almost breaking them. He had to stop Tenaya. Summer wasn't going to stand a chance against Tenaya.

-----RPM-----

Ronny and Kaylee were running through the palace, keeping a close eye on Summer with the handheld device Kaylee was carrying. Instead of following her closely, they decided to go another way. If they were loud enough, they would alert Venjix of their presence, and Summer wouldn't have to deal with an attack.

Tenaya stepped out of a room, and Kaylee and Ronny charged, knocking her over before she even realised their presence.

Summer was down the other hall and saw this. Her two Aunts were holding Tenaya back. The door the android had walked out of swung open, and Summer looked inside.

There stood a nasty monster that Summer could only assume was Venjix. He was looking out the door with a stunned look on his face. Apparently he had no idea Kaylee and Ronny were so close, or fast.

Summer also spotted Dillon, tied down but trying to break out. She pushed herself off the wall and did everything she could to keep her legs running.

She jumped over Kaylee and Ronny, and made it into the room as the door swung open once more. When she landed inside, Venjix stepped forward.

"Well, it seems you got past my defences," he smirked.

Summer could once again feel her body begging to break down, but she refused. Her brain and heart weren't ready to fall yet.

Venjix jerked forward, scaring Summer slightly. She knew that if he engaged her in a battle, she would last maybe three seconds before she was left to die.

"Summer, what the hell are you doing here?" Dillon frowned.

"I told you she was a bitch," Summer smirked, looking at Dillon, "but you refused to believe me."

"Summer, I'm so sorry..."

"I kinda figured," Summer said.

"No, Summer, I'm not sorry can you forgive me? I'm _sorry_! I know you might never..."

"Dillon, I'm here, does that help?" Summer frowned. "I forgive you. I know it was the virus..."

"Summer..."

"Shut up and let me fight now!" Summer yelled, stepping back as Venjix ran forward and swung his arm around. She knew if she got close to the ground, she might fall and never get back up.

"Summer, you can't fight!" Dillon told her. "I can see it, you're hurt!"

"I have no choice!"

Dillon knew she was right. He was tied down, Kaylee and Ronny had to deal with Tenaya, and Venjix was already in full battle mode. He pulled on his restraints and came close to snapping them, but they held. He screamed loudly.

Venjix smirked, pulling his arm back. Summer saw this coming, but forgot to watch his other limbs. His other arm was coming around from the other side. He hit her in the head, forcing her one way, just as his leg swung around from the other side, forcing her the other way.

Summer sunk down in a heap on the ground and time stood still.

Ronny and Kaylee saw her fall from the hall and tried to run to help her, but Tenaya grabbed them and held them back with her enhanced strength.

Dillon struggled to break free but couldn't. No matter how hard he tried, there was no escaping. He couldn't save Summer.

Venjix pulled out his weapon, ready to finish the battle. He held it over Summer's weak form, before hearing a voice.

"Just don't eat the hot-dogs. I don't know what's in them."

The room fell silent to that odd comment, allowing another voice to speak up.

"They eat dogs?"

"Not just dogs, but all animals! They murder them, chop them up and turn them into wieners!"

Venjix turned around and saw two women standing in a bright light. He groaned.

"Not more of you pathetic Rangers."

"I am not a Ranger!" Engel smirked. "I'm an Angel."

Venjix growled, "I don't care who you are..."

"Then why did you ask?" Engel frowned. "I'm just curious. I mean, you groan and say, not more Rangers. I tell you, no, I'm not and you say, grr, I don't care who you are..."

Guinn put her hand on her little sister's shoulder, "I don't think we need the replay. Will you just go save the girl so we can go home?"

"Fine," Engel sighed, as if it were a chore. Guinn nodded, stepping aside so Engel could pass.

"What are you going to do?" Venjix frowned.

"Distraction," Engel smirked. She looked past Venjix and smiled at Summer. With a wave of her hand, a bright light shone, blinding everyone.

Guinn took this chance and ran forward, dropping to her knees in front of Summer. She pulled the girl in her arms and smiled.

"Don't worry child, nothing's going to happen to you."

She picked Summer up as the light faded, and moved towards the wall.

Engel ran over to Venjix but before reaching him, she stepped one way. Venjix moved with her, but Engel stepped the other way. This went on for about a minute, before Engel put her hands to her head and waved them.

"Haha!" she stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry, "Loser."

"Why you..." Venjix dove for Engel, but she stepped out of the way.

Kaylee finally broke free from Tenaya's grasp and ran at Venjix, hitting him in the back and taking him down.

"Die!" she yelled, pulling a plug she found on his back. Venjix powered down, and Tenaya ran to help.

With Ronny free as well, the Rangers and Angels assembled around Dillon. Kaylee and Ronny undid his restraints and he jumped up.

He moved over to Guinn and looked down at Summer. Guinn smiled, putting the girl in his arms.

Dillon held Summer's limp form close. She felt so small and fragile in his arms and he could tell by the way her face was twisted that she was in a great deal of pain.

"You are fortunate to have someone who cares so much about you, Dillon," Guinn spoke. "Summer has fought death to save you."

Dillon nodded, then fell to his knees, holding her as close as possible as he started to cry. He didn't deserve her anymore. He tossed her aside, betrayed her and hurt her, and she still fought with every bone in her body to save him.

"I won't believe the lies anymore, Summer," Dillon whispered into her ear. "It was you, all along. I'm so sorry."

"Boy, apologies can only go so far," Guinn frowned. "Simple words cannot repair the damage that has been done."

"But... I meant it," Dillon said. "I really am sorry... I wish this never happened."

"Why?" Guinn asked. "Why do you feel the need to apologize? Summer's already told you this wasn't your fault. She's forgiven you."

"I... I..."

"Could it be you feel the need to apologize not because of what you did to her, but because of what she did for you?"

"She didn't have to..."

"Dillon," Kaylee smiled, kneeling next to Dillon. "She wanted too."

"Why... why would she..."

"I don't know," Kaylee smirked. Dillon knew she knew, she just wasn't going to tell him.

"Kaylee..."

"Matters of the heart, Dillon," Kaylee said. "You'll understand once you get your emotions right."

Dillon looked down at Summer once more. Just the sight of her brought a smile to his face. He could feel his heart beating faster, giving him life.

"I don't get it," Dillon frowned. Kaylee simply shook her head and touched him. Ronny, Guinn and Engel put their hands on her back.

_**ZWOP!**_

They were all back in the garage, safe and sound, but Dillon didn't notice. He was too focused on Summer. He wanted to know why she did everything she had done, even when he had done her wrong.

Did she love him? Is that what people did when they were in love?

Dillon hugged Summer and whispered in her ear, "I... I love you."


	30. Family Tree

_Author's Note: Neo Aguni, this first scene is for you. Everyone else, Neo actually came up with the main idea for this scene and I decided to use it. It's not technically mine._

Dr. K leaned over, looking at the other Rangers with a strange gaze, "What is with all you people and love?"

"What do you mean, Doc?" Ziggy asked. Dr. K glared at him for calling her doc,

"I mean, what is the point of that," Dr. K said, pointing to Dillon and Summer. "Summer hurt herself over and over again for someone who moments ago she was furious at! Does love to that to you?"

"Yeah, when you find the right person," Ziggy nodded.

"How do you test it?" Dr. K asked.

"Test love?"

"Yes, Ranger L-Green. How do you test love?"

"I don't know... some people ki-"

Ziggy was taken by surprise when Dr. K pulled on his collar and pressed her lips to him. She already knew she liked him, this was going to be a test to see what love feels like.

When she pulled away, she looked up at Ziggy, "Nope, I believe I need to do more research."

Ziggy stood, stunned by what just happened. As Dr. K walked away, he called, "Wait, more research?"

"Yes, Ranger L-Green. If that was love, then love is slobbery and wet. Based on what I've seen before with Dani and Greg and Hayden and Flynn, love wasn't wet."

Dr. K disappeared into her lab, and the boys, Hayden and Dani started to snicker. Ziggy turned to them with a frown.

"It's not my fault!" he said. "I was taken by surprise!"

"Yahuh," Dani giggled. She ruffled Ziggy's hair. "You just keep thinking that, slobber mouth."

"It's true! It's hard kissing them you're cut off!"

"Okay," Scott laughed.

The Rangers went their own ways, giving Dillon and Summer a little time to themselves, as well as Sam a little time with her Angel mother and aunt. Ziggy tried going after them, more so Greg and Flynn, because they were the only two boys in an open loving relationship so far.

Dillon held Summer in his arms until David arrived. He had been called shortly after the Rangers got home when they were called back. He took Summer to the beds so she could rest, and Dillon was right on his heels.

Doc put her down and turned around, bumping right into Dillon.

"Whoa," he laughed. "Dillon, she needs to rest."

"I know that," Dillon nodded.

"You have to leave her," David added, knowing Dillon wasn't getting the message. Dillon shook his head.

"I'm not leaving her again," he said. "Look what happened last time I did."

"Dillon, she's going to rest up and she'll be okay. I'll be back in a few hours to check up on her cuts, make sure there are no infections."

"I'm staying with her," Dillon said, crossing his arms. David groaned. Dillon was being very stubborn. Summer needed to rest, but Dillon was going to continue to persist to stay with her. He gave in, knowing from past experiences (Ronny and Dani weren't the most co-operative people left the in the world) that Dillon wasn't going to give in, and he was better off letting him have his way.

"Fine," he said. "But there are a few rules."

"I'm listening."

"One, the bed is for Summer only," Doc stated. "She needs the rest, and she needs to be comfortable to get that rest. She'll need all the room she can get."

"Fine..."

"And," Doc added, "Until I give her the all clear to get out of bed, you have to keep her in there."

"Can do..." Dillon stepped forward, but Doc put his hand on his chest.

"Finally, you have to get her to eat something in the next few hours, and keep her hydrated."

"Anything else, Doc?" Dillon asked.

"Yeah, don't be so stupid next time," David smirked and stepped out of the way for Dillon. The black Ranger nodded and took a seat beside the bed. He took Summer's hand in his and watched her.

-----RPM-----

"Guys, I'm the Zig-man! I can totally kiss a lady!" Ziggy said, following Flynn and Greg like a puppy, hoping they would believe him.

"Ziggy, have you even had a girlfriend?" Greg asked.

"There was this one girl," Ziggy smirked, "she and I held hands in grade one... it was cute."

"Ziggy, that's not a girlfriend," Flynn laughed.

"Okay... in... in grade five, I had a girl swap her lunch with me!"

"Dude, that's not a girlfriend," Greg laughed. "Sorry Zig."

-----RPM-----

Samantha was bouncing in excitement. Engel was here, Guinn was here and there was no time limit for her on earth.

Kaylee watched her daughter and smiled before turning to the other Masters, "So, how long are you guys here for?"

"Actually, we just came down because we knew Summer was in danger," Engel shrugged. "We plan on leaving soon."

"Soon?" Sam frowned, her shoulders dropping. "How soon?"

"As soon as we help," Guinn smiled. "We heard there was a virus going around."

"Uh, yeah," Sam nodded, "Have you been living under a rock? It's called Venjix."

"Not that virus, child," Guinn laughed, understanding Sam's confusion. "A Venjix virus, which allows for Venjix hardware to spread inside the human body and take over all biological parts."

Kaylee sighed, "Don't remind me."

"I think I can help with that," Guinn smirked, touching Kaylee's head. The blonde started to glow green for a few moments, then it faded.

"What happened?" Kaylee frowned.

"You're human," Guinn smiled. "Being the headmaster in the spirit world comes with a few perks."

"You can make humans?" Kaylee asked. "Are you God? Would that make me God's niece? That would be..."

"Kaylee, calm down, I'm not God," Guinn laughed. "I can't make humans, but I can give life."

Kaylee pulled Master Guinn aside and whispered, "Guinny, that's pretty much the same thing."

Guinn laughed once more, "Kaylee, I can give life, but it's more... restoring or reviving. It has its limits."

"Like... when you gave me life for earth," Sam smiled. "I was a little alive, but you finished it!"

"Exactly," Engel nodded. "In a way, Master Guinn is a little like a god."

"Wait, if you made me human... does that mean I have no more traces of Venjix?" Kaylee asked. Guinn nodded and Kaylee perked up. "Dillon! You can help Dillon!"

"It is my intention," Guinn nodded.

Samantha smiled, grabbing her Aunt's arm and pulling her over to where Dillon was with Summer. As she explained things to the Black Ranger, Mike walked over to Engel.

"Um... Engel, I know this has probably been asked before but..." Mike spoke with a hint of fear in his voice and one hand was hiding behind his back. Kaylee leaned back and saw him cradling her book.

Ever since Mike had seen in and the picture of his grandparents he wondered if there was a way of meeting them. All his grandparents had passed away long before he was born. He and his siblings were the only ones in his rather large, confusing family not to meet a single grandparent. What killed him most was that he had six: his father's biological parents, his father's adoptive parents and his mother's parents.

Kaylee took her book from Mike and gave him a soft look. She turned to Engel and gave her the book.

"He wants to know about them," she said. She opened the book to the page with her, her sister and her parents. Engel looked at Mike who was looking down.

"Mikey, I've told you mother and your aunt many times before..."

"You also told me you were watching each and every one of us!" Mike frowned. "My grandmother was your daughter, just like my mother was and just like I'm your son! You can't tell me you don't know where she is!"

"You're the odd one, Mike," Hayden giggled, walking over to her family. "Long line of first born children being girls, then there's you."

Kaylee smacked Hayden over the head and glared. The young girl looked up at her mom.

"What? It's true! Right, Engel?"

Engel nodded.

Mike looked up at her, "Engel, please... I need to meet one of them! I've never had a grandmother or grandfather! I'm starting to feel like I've missed out. And I'm sure my mom and Aunt K want a chance to say goodbye, in person!"

"I kind of do," Kaylee nodded. "It's not fun when your last memory of your parents leads to you wondering where their pieces are floating in space."

"I say the moon," Hayden smiled. "For some reason, it's always fascinated me. I like to think that's where they were pulled."

Engel pulled the three into a small huddle, "Look, your parents are in the spirit world with us, but we can't reach them."

"Why not?" Kaylee asked.

"Kaylee, your parents didn't die on earth," Engel started. "The spirit world is only supposed to be for deaths on earth."

"But... that's not fair!" Kaylee argued.

"When your mother and father died, I tried to pull them in, but I only got so far. I'm sorry."

Mike grabbed the book and stormed off. It wasn't fair. It wasn't his grandparent's fault they blew up in space. They deserved an afterlife like everyone else.

Hayden looked up at her mom. The sad look was killing her. She hugged the older woman and smiled.

"We should just be happy for what we got," she said. "I heard you were human again... and so is Dillon."

"Yeah," Kaylee nodded. "You're right, Hayden."

-----RPM-----

After trying to convince the boys he was a good kisser, and failing, Ziggy decided to ask Dr. K what she meant when she said she needed more research. He stepped into the lab and saw she was alone.

"Hey, where are... uh, the boom twins?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I sent them out to monitor Kaylee and Dustin. I overheard her conversation with Engel, Mike and Hayden and know that she's going to need Dustin."

"You're spying on Kaylee and using personal matters for your research?" Ziggy frowned.

"In the soup we were taught to put research first," Dr. K explained. "By pushing personal matters aside we can accomplish more, and at a much faster speed because there are no distractions."

"But... you can't research love," Ziggy said. He walked over to Dr. K and pushed her clipboard down. "Well, at least, not the way you're doing it."

"I think I'm doing just fine, Ranger L-Green," Dr. K pulled away from him and went to her papers. "So far I've figured out that love is a strong attraction between two individuals... but I want to know what causes it."

"What causes love?" Ziggy frowned. "I, uh, I don't think you can figure it out, or write it down on paper."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Dr. K asked.

Ziggy shrugged, "I don't know... but it's... love is... well..."

"Get on with it, Ranger L-Green."

"Love is an emotion, Dr. K," Ziggy explained. "It's not really something you can... explain."

"Love, like everything else in this world has a definition."

"Alright, well, without using any other emotions, try telling me what love is," Ziggy challenged. Dr. K put her clipboard down on the table and looked over at Ziggy.

"Love is a feeling of..."

"Ah, not allowed defining what it feels like, that would count as an emotion," Ziggy smirked. Dr. K frowned and tried once more.

"Love is when two people... Love is.... Love..."

"Hah," Ziggy grinned, throwing his fists in the air and cheering. "I totally stumped the Doctor!"

"Alright, Ranger L-Green," Dr. K nodded, grabbing her clipboard once more, "If you can show me what love is and how it's created, I will give you a day off."

Ziggy smirked, grabbing Dr. K's hand, "Great! I know just the place."

He led her to where Dillon was watching Summer. The two hid behind a wall, and Ziggy snuck a glance before looking over at Dr. K.

"Alright, you might wanna take notes on this, Doc," he told her. "Summer managed to show Dillon she loved him by putting him first. When you love someone, you put their happiness, and in some cases, their safety, above yours."

Dr. K began scribbling down notes. Ziggy rolled his eyes.

"To sum it up, Doc, you know you love someone when you do them a favour, and the only thing you want in return in to see a smile on their face. Love is selfless."

"Anything else?" Dr. K asked. Ziggy laughed, wrapping his arm around the small doctor and ignoring her warning glares.

"Doc K, there's a lot more," he said. He pulled her over to the couch and sat her down. He took the spot next to her. "When you love someone, you want to do everything to insure they know they're important to you."

"You want them to know?" Dr. K asked. Now she was really interested. She had found out a while ago she liked Ziggy and ever since she had done everything she could to push him away. It was really for her own protection, but after hearing Ziggy say love was selfless, Dr. K was starting to think she was doing everything wrong.

She needed to put her feelings on the line, and she needed to let Ziggy know he was important to her if she was going to explore this... love thing, first hand.

She refused any more explanation from Ziggy. She already had two things to work on already.

In a sudden move, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you, Ranger... I mean Ziggy," she said. She pulled away quickly, feeling the awkwardness of the hug sinking in. She looked at Ziggy for a second, before disappearing.

-----RPM-----

Dillon's was slowly falling asleep beside Summer. His head would drop every few seconds and he would suddenly snap up and be on full alert, before getting tired once more.

He was saved from sleep when Summer started to stir. He was wide awake as he stood up and looked down at Summer happily.

"Morning, Sunshine," he smiled. Summer looked up at him, grinning.

"What happened?" she asked. Dillon sat back down on the chair, still holding Summer's hand in his, while using his other to play with her hair.

"Engel and Guinn saved us, and just in time too," Dillon answered. "Venjix was about to destroy you."

"Well, I'm glad they showed up."

"So am I," Dillon smiled. He kissed Summer's forehead gently and looked into her eyes, "Look, Summer, about before. I'm really, really, sorry."

"Dillon, it wasn't..."

"No," Dillon shook his head. "Let me finish. Virus or no, you're the most important thing and I shouldn't have hurt you the way I did. If there is anything I can do to make it up to you..."

"You don't have to..."

"Summer, Sunshine... I want to."

Summer smiled, leaning over to kiss Dillon. As she put her head down on the pillow she looked up at the ceiling.

"A date," she answered. "One date, with you, and just you."

"Can do," Dillon said. He kissed her again, "Now, you need to get more sleep. Dani's dad will be in here in a bit to check up on you."

Summer nodded, getting comfortable in her bed. She couldn't, however, and called to Dillon before he left the room.

He turned around when he heard his name. Summer sat up, leaning on one arm.

"Are you tired?" she asked, patting the spot on the bed beside her.

Dillon shook his head, "No, Doc said you needed to be comfortable to get better... as much as I want to..."

"Dillon, sit," Summer ordered. Dillon didn't like her tone, so he quickly ran over to the bed and sat down. Summer pulled him in closer so he was lying beside her. She put her head on his chest and wrapped her arm over him. She smiled, looking up.

"Now I'm comfortable," she said.

Dillon shrugged, wrapping his arms around her just as David stepped into the room. The two exchanged glances, with David giving Dillon a disappointed look. Dillon smirked, motioning to Summer.

"You said she had to be comfortable," he said.

-----RPM-----

Engel and Guinn stepped out of the Garage, ready to head home. Karly was sneaking back inside the house when she heard Engel speak up. She hid behind a garbage can and listened in.

"Guinn... I feel a little... not good."

"Do you need to use the washroom before we go home?" Guinn asked jokingly, but a look from her sister stopped her. She pulled Engel away from the door and closer to the wall. "What's bugging you?"

"The Hanson parents... Mike asked about them, and I told him he could never see them," Engel said.

Guinn looked down at the younger girl, "The Hanson parents are where they should be, Eva, there's nothing you can do about it!"

"I know... but...," Engel glanced at the door and sighed, "Mike, he's never had grandparents. He deserves to meet them, especially if there is a way."

"You didn't tell them there was, did you?" Guinn asked, frowning, "Eva, if Mike and the others go visit the Hansons, they would be in danger!"

"They should know though..."

"Mike, Kaylee and Hayden are alive and well. They still have a life to live. The Hansons are dead, that's the way life worked out. If the universe wanted Mike to meet his grandparents, it wouldn't have killed them."

"I guess you're right," Engel sighed. Guinn hugged her sister.

"This hurts me as much as it does you," she said, "It's my family too. But if Mike, Kaylee and Hayden go into that world, there is no getting out, and unlike the spirit world, they can't expect to live in a nice, pink field with the rest of their family. They would be forced to live in a dark, black space, with no one but themselves for company."

Engel nodded, wiping away her tears.

"It's for the best, I guess... I just... I don't like keeping this from them."

Guinn smiled, "I don't either, but we have to think of them. The Hansons wouldn't want it."

The two sisters disappeared in a flash of light after that, and Karly stood stunned. Though she wasn't alive when Kaylee and Tori's parents passed away, she was Kaylee's cat. She had seen the many times Kaylee would curl up and cry, cradling a picture of her parents.

It was her duty to help her human out, and Kaylee deserved to know the truth. The entire family did. The black and white tuxedo cat turned around and ran over to Tori and Blake's house.

She had to tell the humans.


	31. Generations

Karly sprinted down the streets, avoiding the alleys with all the male cats trying to hit on her. Why she liked going outside at night, she had no idea.

"Note to self," she said once one of the cats started following her, "stay indoors unless with human."

Karly didn't mind the cat following her; after all, the rule on the street was that an alley cat was never supposed to go into a human house. On some occasions they did (like when humans had leftover food or the weather was bad), but for the most part they stayed where they belonged.

Karly finally made it to Tori and Blake's house and snuck inside. Jason, the youngest son, always left a window open for Karly in case she wanted to visit.

Once inside, Karly tracked Tori down. It was already very late, and everyone in the house was in bed. Karly's job was pretty easy. The hard part was going to be waking her up. After years of living with Kaylee, then raising three kids, the woman was definitely a heavy sleeper.

The cat hopped up and sat on Tori's face. The forty-one year old swatted her away, but didn't wake up. Karly hissed at Tori, but that did nothing.

Karly sighed, "I should just poop on your face. I'm not totally housebroken!"

She sat down, again on Tori's face, and pondered. How did Kaylee used to wake Tori up? There was cold water, but Karly didn't have the ability to transport the water from the sink to Tori's face. There had to be another way. Breakfast? No, Karly was a cat, she couldn't cook. Talking was her thing.

She could try waking up one of the kids. If Tori heard one of the kids were out of bed, she would go mother them.

It couldn't hurt to try. Karly hopped off the bed and ran down the hall.

"Now, which child should I wake?" she asked herself, looking at the two doors. "I could wake Elena... since she lost her sight Tori's been overprotective... but the kid loves to cuddle and squish me. That's not fun."

Deciding Jason was the better option, she pushed open the door to his room. Instantly the smell was overwhelming.

"God, does this human bathe?" Karly frowned. "And he's not even at the smelly age yet! He's only eleven!"

Karly slowly made her way over to his bed. Just as she was about to hop up, she found the source of the smell.

"There's a sandwich under here!" she frowned, crawling under the bed and getting a better look. The smell was horrendous (and that's saying a lot coming from a cat that loves to sleep in Ronny's socks). "Oh, is that mayo?"

Karly pushed the sandwich further away and ran out from under the bed. She was pretty sure something was going to come to life if that sandwich wasn't taken care of soon.

She bounced onto Jason's face and began hopping. In a matter of seconds the young boy was pulled from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes and opened them slowly, only to see a pair of glowing cat eyes looking down at him."

"AH!" he screamed, jumping out of bed.

Karly was startled and jumped as well. Her fur was standing on ends. The door was suddenly pushed open and Tori and Blake stood, worried.

"Jason, are you okay?" Tori asked, coming to her son's side.

Karly looked at the two parents and shrugged, "As long as it worked."

Blake heard the extra voice and saw Karly sitting on the bed. He let out his breath and laughed.

"It's okay, it was just Karly," he said, turning on the lights.

Tori let go of her son and sat beside the cat, "Hey, kitty, what are you doing here so late?"

Karly stood and looked at Tori, "I need to talk to all of you, humans."

"It couldn't wait?" Tori asked. "The kids have school tomorrow..."

"It's about your parents, human," Karly said.

Blake looked over at his wife. When it came to their parents, they were in the same boat. Neither of them had parents and had lost them at a young age. But for Tori, she never got to say a real goodbye to them. They were there one minute, and the next she was receiving news that she was parentless. It hurt her every day. Blake knew that news like this was too important to wait another second.

"I'll wake Elena," he said, stepping out of the room.

Tori picked up the cat and held her so they were looking into each other's eyes, "What's it about?"

"I know where they are," Karly smiled. "I can help you humans say goodbye. Engel and Guinn wouldn't do it."

Blake walked back in, carrying little Elena. Karly squirmed out of Tori's hands and ran for the door.

"C'mon, humans, there's still more of you I have to wake up."

-----RPM-----

The Bradley's snuck into the Ranger Base and took their seats on the couch while Karly went to wake the others. She knew Hayden and Mike were going to be easy. All she had to do was meow until the two teenagers were awake.

With Kaylee, the job was going to be slightly harder than Tori. Karly's human was used to the cat waking her up every morning, and now slept through everything Karly tried.

The cat bit Kaylee's ear, in hopes something would happen. Kaylee didn't budge. She hopped up and down on Kaylee's stomach and dug her claws into Kaylee's skin. Still nothing. She sat on Kaylee's face. Kaylee rolled over.

Karly tried everything and was about to give up, until Tori walked into the room.

"Did this all the time for school," the blonde smirked. She gently leaned in, putting her mouth close to Kaylee's ear. She whispered softly, "Kaylee, kiddo, c'mon, it's time to wake up."

"Five more minutes," Kaylee muttered. Tori nodded and winked at the cat. Karly thought Tori's plan wasn't going to work, until the older sister pulled the pillow out from under Kaylee's head and screamed, as loud as she could.

"GET UP YOU DORK, IT'S TIME FOR SCHOOL!"

Kaylee quickly bolted up, eyes wide open, "Shit, I'm going to be... wait a minute..."

The blonde looked up at her sister, "I don't go to school anymore... and you don't live here... and... huh?"

"Your cat wants to talk to you," Tori said. This wasn't helping Kaylee's tired little mind. A talking cat?

"Oh, you mean Karly," Kaylee said. "God, don't do that! I was scared I owed Dr. O a report on stupid dinosaurs."

"Human, get your butt out of bed! The others are waiting!" Karly said, trying to push things along.

"The others?" Kaylee asked.

Tori sighed, "I should have never dropped you..."

Kaylee pulled herself out of bed and followed Tori and Karly to the garage. By now all the Rangers, Dr. K and the twins were up, waiting for Kaylee so they could hear the news.

The first thing Tori saw was Summer and her scars. She knew the ranger business was a tough one, but when one Ranger was covered with scars and the others were okay, that meant something happened. But the way Dillon was holding her close and smiling, Tori figured everything was fine with her niece. She sat down beside Blake, pulling Elena on her lap as Karly hopped up on the TV.

"Alright, so I overheard Engel and Guinn talking before they left, and they mentioned my human's parents" Karly started, figuring it was best to get straight to the point.

"Yeah, I asked them about my grandparents," Mike frowned.

"I figured someone must have, because I heard your grandparents were in the spirit world."

Kaylee growled, ready to speak up, but Karly continued.

"It's another part of the spirit world," she said, "a darker place. Apparently, if you go in, there is no coming out."

"Why would they be there?" Jason asked. He knew about the spirit world and the afterlife. He knew about his ancestors and their history. "The darker place, I mean."

"Your grandparents died in space," Kaylee explained. "The spirit world is only for humans who pass away on earth."

"When Engel tried to pull them into the spirit world, she must have sent them there!" Hayden exclaimed, putting the pieces together. "But, why wouldn't she want us to visit them?"

"There is no coming out," Karly repeated. "You'll live in a dark, empty space for the rest of your life!"

"My grandparents are living there?" Mike frowned. Karly nodded sadly.

"Guinn didn't want you guys to know, because she wanted to keep you safe, but I thought you humans deserved to know."

"So much for the moon," Hayden grumbled, leaning in closer to Flynn for comfort.

"There has to be a way to help them," Mike spoke. "We can't just leave them in... nothing! They don't even have light..."

"Or contact with their fellow dead," Karly added.

Kaylee looked over at her sister, "We can't leave them there," she said. "Not mom and dad."

Tori nodded and was about to speak, until she felt Elena move. She looked down at her daughter who was slowly slipping off. Elena touched the floor with her feet and moved to the middle of the room. Karly quickly hopped off the TV to help guide her.

"I know what it's like to live in the dark," Elena said. "It's not fun. Aunt Kaylee's right, you can't leave them there."

Tori smiled at her daughter, reaching out and stroking her hand, "We're not going to, sweetie."

"Well, pardon my French but screw Engel and Guinn. I say we go after mom and dad! What's the worst that can happen?"

"You get pulled into the same world your parents live in, with no escaping," Dr. K started the list of worst-case scenarios, "Or, you could completely destroy your family history. Or there could be the matter of..."

Ziggy put his hand on Dr. K's shoulder, "We really gotta work on rhetorical questions."

"I wanna risk it," Mike said. "They are family; we can't just leave them there!"

"I'm in too," Tori nodded. Kaylee was right beside her sister. Hayden smirked, turning to her own sister.

"I'm in but we're gonna need a way to get there," she said. Sammy looked over at her and saw a malicious smirk on Hayden's face.

"What makes you think I know how to get up there?" she asked.

Hayden raised her eyebrows, "Please, you used to be dead."

"So many odd sentences in this family," Dillon commented. "From: the cat told me, to, you used to be dead. Nothing is out of the ordinary."

"Shut up," Summer frowned.

"Hey, I speak the truth."

"Yeah... but... shut up."

"Alright, let's go save my grandparents from their afterlife of total darkness and isolation so they can rest in peace!" Mike grinned.

"SEE!" Dillon pointed out. Summer nudged him and rolled her eyes.

-----RPM-----

After getting Samantha to finally admit she could take her mother, sister, aunt and cousin to the dark world, the four were getting ready for their trip. Samantha just had to look through a book to make sure she knew what she was doing. After all, she had the power to travel, but she wasn't too sure how to use it.

"Alright," she called, closing the book and handing it to Blake, "Is everyone ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Hayden nodded.

Kaylee looked over at her team, "We'll try to get back as soon as possible, but if something goes wrong and we all get stuck, I need you guys to keep fighting."

"Can do," Ziggy saluted. Kaylee looked at Dani.

"Kid, tell your mother to take my spot as co-mentor of the team," Kaylee smiled. Dani nodded.

"Alright then, let's get this show on the road!" Mike smiled. "Sammy, kill us!"

Samantha nodded waving her hands around, surrounding herself and the four in an orb of light. After a moment, they were gone.

"It's still bugging me," Dillon said, looking at the others. "Seriously, Mike tells Sam to kill him, and no one even blinks..."

"Why are you bringing this up now?" Summer frowned.

"You guys woke me up," Dillon shrugged, "I'm the brooding bad boy who needs some rest, if not I get like this."

-----RPM-----

Samantha felt a knot in her stomach as she pushed the orb through the spirit world and into a dark world. She knew she wasn't supposed to do this, and she could get in serious trouble for it, but like the rest of her family, she just wanted to see her grandparents.

When they were inside the dark world, the light from the orb began to fade. Kaylee grabbed onto Hayden and Samantha, hoping she wouldn't lose them. Tori did the same with Mike.

"Is it fading?" Mike asked his cousin, referring to her powers. Samantha shook her head.

"No... I guess in here, darkness is stronger than light."

When the light was gone, Mike couldn't see anything aside from the people he was with.

"At least we have each other," he said.

"The orb is gone now," Samantha said, lowering her hands, "You guys are good to search."

Kaylee moved beside her oldest daughter, "Do you think you can get us back?"

"If I rest up, I can get you back the same way," Samantha nodded. "I'll be waiting for you guys right here. Don't get lost."

"How would we get lost?" Hayden asked, waving her hands around, "It's just space."

"Keep Sammy in your sight at all times, guys," Tori called. "No matter what, we should all be able to see her."

"Are we going to look for our grandparents?" Mike asked eagerly.

"No... don't worry about it... we found you."

An elderly man and woman stepped out, finally appearing in front of the five. They didn't look well at all and they sounded weak. However, to Tori and Kaylee, it sounded as good as the angels singing. They never thought they would hear those voices again.

Samantha frowned slightly at the appearance of her grandparents. She looked at her cousins and whispered, "I like my world better. Once you hit your twenties, you stop aging."

"Time works differently here, child," Mr. Hanson smiled, looking over at his two granddaughters and his grandson. "Here, it works against you."

The three kids suddenly grew very shy. None of them knew how awkward it would be meeting their grandparents.

Tori decided to break the silence. She moved over behind Mike and wrapped her arms around him.

"Mom, dad, this is my oldest son, Michael," she smiled. Mr and Mrs Hanson smiled, approaching Michael. Mr. Hanson put his hands on Mike's shoulder and smiled with pride.

"My oldest boy," he said. Mike smiled nervously, getting closer to his mother. He wasn't scared of his grandparents but he was feeling a little... well nervous.

"You said your oldest?" Mrs. Hanson asked.

In the dark world, the Hanson parents were cut off from the human world. They knew they must have had grandchildren, but with no sense of time or no information flow, they couldn't tell when the time was coming. Now, seeing the way their daughters looked, they could tell they had at least one each (and the children before them were a good clue).

"I have three kids," Tori smiled, "Mike, here, is the oldest. Then my other son, Jason, and finally, my daughter Elena."

"And... how old are they?" Mrs. Hanson asked. Mr. Hanson could see the smile on his wife's face and held her close. It had been a long time since he saw that smile.

"I'm eighteen," Mike started, "Jason's eleven and Elena's eight."

"Three kids," Mr. Hanson smiled, looking at his oldest daughter. "I can tell, just by the looks of this one, they're all beautiful."

Tori squeezed Mike gently, "Thanks, dad."

"How about you, baby?" Mrs. Hanson asked. "I believe these two girls are yours."

Kaylee nodded, "My oldest, Samantha, and my baby, Hayden."

Mrs. Hanson looked over at Hayden, "My baby's baby."

"Their ages?" Mr. Hanson asked.

"Samantha just turned nineteen and Hayden's going to be seventeen soon," Kaylee smiled.

"And we have an adopted brother," Samantha spoke up, "He still doesn't like me much."

"Oh, and I guess you can count the twins too!" Hayden smirked. "Aunt Kira's kids."

"Kira?" the Hanson parents looked at the kids with confusion. "Who is Kira?"

Kaylee looked over at the kids nervously, "They, uh, wouldn't know about Kira," she said.

"It seems we've missed out on a lot," Mrs. Hanson sighed. Mr. Hanson however smiled, pulling his daughters into an embrace.

"It doesn't matter, we're caught up now and we got to see out babies."

"It does matter," Mike argued, "There's still an entire family you've yet to meet! Jason, Elena, dad, Uncle Dustin, Christian, and all our Aunts and Uncles from after your death..."

"Sammy," Kaylee started as she glanced over at her daughter. Samantha looked up. "Do you think you can pull them away from here and into our world?"

"Mom, I could get into some serious trouble for this already," Sam frowned, "I know how important this is... but..."

"Sam, I just want the chance to have grandparents," Mike spoke, stepping before his older cousin. "Even just for a second. I'll take full blame from Master Guinn and Engel..."

"That's not going to work but... I'll do it," Samantha nodded. "Everyone huddle close."

Tori and Kaylee guided their parents into the invisible orb Samantha was forming. Within seconds they all felt as if they were being lifted. The bubbled pierced through the black walls of the dark world and travelled back to the human one.

Before landing, Samantha felt a drop in her powers. She knew it was going to take a lot of energy to steal her grandparents away, but she had no idea it would be this draining. They were all still high off the ground, just under the ceiling of the garage, when the bubble popped.

"Crash landing!" Hayden yelled, moving herself under her fragile grandparents so they would have something relatively softer to land on.

"Oh, well, welcome back," Flynn frowned as he and the others came to greet the returning Rangers.

To Mr. and Mrs. Hanson's horror, they found they had landed on their baby's baby. They got up as quickly as they could and tried to help Hayden.

The pink Ranger smiled at them and laughed, "I totally didn't feel that one."

The Hanson parents let out a breath, relieved the girl was okay.

"Whoa," Jason breathed, pulling his dad and sister along behind him. He looked up at the two older people in awe. "You're my grandparents?"

"You must be Jason," Mrs. Hanson said, kneeling down in front of Jason.

Jason nodded nervously before stepping behind his father. Mrs. Hanson laughed. She could understand why her grandchildren were pulling away from her. Truth be told, if she wasn't so excited to see new faces, she would have been quiet as well.

She looked over and saw Elena. She smiled at the little girl, but didn't get one in return. Elena just continued to stare. Mrs. Hanson got back to her feet and looked to her husband.

"My sister's blind," Mike explained, lifting Elena into his arms. "She can't see you."

"Yes I can," Elena nodded, reaching her hands out. Mike laughed, holding the girl close enough to her grandparents so she could touch their faces and "see" them.

Mrs. Hanson cupped the little girl's cheek and Mr. Hanson wiped away a tear. He never imagined his youngest grandchild being blind.

"We live in a post-apocalyptic world," Tori explained. "When the world... ended, we ran to the only two cities left. Unfortunately Elena came in contact with some radioactive liquid and it took her sight."

"I'm okay, though," Elena smiled. "Mommy always says I shouldn't be sad for what I lost. I should be happy that I'm still healthy and alive."

Mr. Hanson laughed and nodded, touching Elena's arm gently. Then he looked over at her father.

"So... you're the man who married my girl," he said. He extended his hand for Blake to take. "I hope you've been taking care of her."

"Every day sir," Blake nodded.

Dustin stepped into the garage, with a sleeping Christian in his arms. He had been called as soon as the five had left, and it took him until now to get to the garage.

"Mom, dad, you remember Dustin," Kaylee smiled.

"Oh, he's the boy from the school," Mrs. Hanson said. "I do remember."

"You married him?" Mr. Hanson asked. Kaylee nodded. "Well, I guess I couldn't ask for better."

"Thank you, sir... I think," Dustin said, shaking his father in-law's hand.

"Hey, uh, Sammy, now that they're on earth, do you think they will go to the spirit world?" Mike asked. Samantha shrugged.

"I don't know, Mike. I could try."

Mr. and Mrs Hanson looked down at their adopted grandson while Samantha prepared to send them off. She hated how short the reunion was, but they had to return. With any luck, though, they would go to the spirit world, and maybe they would be able to visit, like she had done before obtaining her powers.

A simple nod alerted Tori and Kaylee that it was time. They nodded in return and smiled at their parents.

Mr. and Mrs. Hanson could only smile back as they pulled their girls in a great, big hug. Just as Samantha pulled them into the spirit world, they whispered into both girls' ears.

"We are so proud of both of you. Never think otherwise."

When they were gone, Mike looked at Sam.

"Do you think they made it?"

The sudden appearance of an angry Guinn and a very disappointed Engel answered Mike's question. Samantha backed away from her mother and aunt slowly.

"I'm an Angel, I work miracles," she said before taking off. Guinn and Engel ran after her. They couldn't let this mistake slide, even if it was for the best. Samantha had put too many lives in danger.

"Are you happy, kiddo?" Tori asked her son. Mike nodded, looking up.

"At least I know who they are," he nodded.


	32. Not So Simple

_Author's Note: The Hanson parents are still dead, but they aren't living in the dark world. They now live in the Spirit World with the rest of their ancestors. I just wanted to make sure everyone understood that._

_Enjoy this chapter and leave your thoughts._

* * *

The next few weeks after the Hanson event were pretty calm. Aside from Venjix attacks there wasn't much elseGem and Gemma pulled out their books and crayon and began their work. Gemma opened her diary and began reading what she had written over the holiday Dr. K and Kaylee had granted.

_Dear awesome diary,_

_What a fascinating few weeks it's been for Gem and me getting to know all the Rangers off the battle field. Dillon is nice, but very brooding. I would be brooding too if I had just been used by Venjix. _

_Summer's totally caring, and forgiving. Even after Dillon admitted to sleeping with Tenaya, she's staying by his side. She's also helping Mike, Hayden, Tori and Kaylee deal with their grandparent issue. Oh, and her hair is super flippy! I should ask her what she uses._

_As our team leader, Scott is really brave and a total go-getter. Unfortunately he's a lot like his dad and for some reason they never see eye to eye._

_Mike's very protective of the girls. He's always looking out for them and trying to do what's best for them. It's sweet._

_Gem and I can always count on Ziggy to say something funny... although we don't always get his humour._

_Dani's the youngest in the group, but she's definitely one of the toughest and most stubborn Rangers on the team. Gem and I like working in the lab with her, because she's the only other person who helps us during our boom time._

_Kaylee's like the mom we never had. I guess Summer gets her caring attitude from her. Kaylee's always looking out for us and makes sure we all have fun, even during the long presentations._

_And then there's Flynn. I suppose he's basically just..._

"A simple mechanic?" Flynn frowned, walking over to Gemma and slamming his hand down beside her book. "Is that what you think? A simple mechanic?"

Gemma shut her book quickly and looked up at Flynn. She hugged her book close to her chest.

"Ah, no fair, you read my diary?"

"YES!" Flynn nodded, before realising he had invaded her privacy. "I did... accidentally... but wait!"

He ran over to his tools and pulled out one of his creations. He held it up for the twins to see.

"Now this converter gives Scott's car an extra one hundred horses and conserves fuel. That is not simple."

The machine started beeping as Flynn presented it. As soon as he was done, it shut down and sparked. Flynn put it down and searched for something else.

"Alright," he said, holding up another creation. "You want your car washed, in three seconds?"

He threw his machine onto Hayden's car and the twins watched as it cleaned off the thick coat of dirt, making it shine once again. When it was done, it jumped back over to Flynn and he caught it.

"Simple? I think not."

Flynn then led the twins over to his work station and held up his latest creation. It was small and round and looked a lot like a wheel, but the wires were telling the twins this wasn't going to be attaching itself onto a car anytime soon.

"Now this is my masterpiece," Flynn smiled. "With it..."

The alarms sounded and all the Rangers ran to the garage. Flynn put his toy down and sighed, following the others.

-----RPM-----

The attack bot was already monster size, leaving the Rangers with no choice but to call the Megazords.

"Is that a knight?" Scott frowned, looking at the bot. "That's... new."

The knight swung its lance, hitting the Rangers with a very powerful attack and pulling a lot of energy from the Zords.

"_Those are no ordinary lasers,"_ Dr. K said, referring to the beams of light coming out of the lance. _"Those are negatively fused electrical discharges! You must avoid any future hits at all costs!"_

"Easier said than done, Doc," Mike frowned as he was shaken around by the hits on his Megazord. The Valvemax and the mach Megazord decided to help out by each grabbing an arm of the knight and holding him still.

"_Rangers, disengage! The bot is charging up for..."_

"Too late!" Dillon yelled as the battlefield was taken over by a bright light.

"_Rangers, the charge has short circuited the Megazord power grid! Standby while I bypass the grid to access the bio-energy field directly."_

The Valvemax and Mach Megazords went down quickly, and couldn't get up.

Flynn knew he had to do something to help. He ran out of his cockpit and onto the shoulder of the Megazord with his blaster and an engine cell key.

"Just a simple mechanic, eh?" he called. "Gold and Black, hold still and thank me later!"

"What is he...?" Greg frowned.

"I'm afraid to ask," Dillon cut him off.

Flynn held up the engine cell, "I've rewired this baby to recharge the Zord's combustion system. Think of it as wireless jumper cables."

Flynn inserted the disk and prepared to fire it at the two Megazords on the ground.

When she heard this, Ronny ran to the communicator.

"_Flynn, hold your fire! That device might not be compatible with the Systems used to power the Megazords!"_

"Have a little Faith, will ya?" Flynn frowned, getting ready to fire.

"Flynn, listen to my mom! She works with the Zords! If anything..."

Dani was cut off as Flynn fired the shot, hitting both Megazords. There was a beep in her cockpit, as well as Dillon's, as the Megazords were deactivated.

"Complete system failure," Dani reported to her mother and Dr. K.

Flynn looked down at his blaster and sighed, "No, I don't get it... it should have worked."

Kaylee hopped onto the computers, taking over the battle. Ronny ran over to the monitors, pulling out the results of the Megazord's automatic scans.

"_Alright guys, standby for bio-energy flow reconfiguration," _she called, typing away. She was no Dr. K when it came to technology, but after years as a Ranger, she knew her way around the Megazords. Especially seeing as she designed them.

"It worked!" Ziggy cheered, turning the wheel to get the Valvemax back on his feet.

"Thanks, Aunt K!" Dani cheered.

"Now, let's finish this!" Greg smirked.

Flynn got back inside his cockpit and lowered his head while the others finished off the knight. His cell key should have worked, without any problems. Instead it probably caused the biggest problem of them all.

-----RPM-----

"I'm sorry, to all of you!" Flynn started, apologizing to his team and mentors once the battle was over. "The engine cell should have worked! I honestly don't know what happened!"

"Then allow me to explain..." Dr. K was about to begin her rant when Kaylee put her hand on her shoulder.

"I simple terms, Flynn, we can't create the Megazords anymore until Ronny fixes them up," Kaylee started.

"In simple terms," Flynn nodded. He was really starting to hate that word. There was more to him than just cars and engines, especially now that he wasn't the only mechanic on the team. He wanted to prove to the others he was different and still very important.

"Even with help, I might not get these babies up and running for hours, maybe days," Ronny sighed.

"So if the next attack-bot supersizes before you get a chance to fix it..."

"Then we're done for," Scott finished for Dillon.

"Alright, maybe if I can go back into the engine cell configurations..."

Dr. K stepped over to Flynn, getting right up in his face, "You are never to pull another stunt like this again!"

"Stunt?" Flynn asked. "Upgrading and improving mechanical devices is what I do! It's my profession!"

"I cut my own hair with lefty scissors, and yet I'm smart enough to know that as a barber, I would be a failure. Funny how that works." Dr. K stormed off, enraged that Flynn would even try to mess with Project Ranger and put it all, including the Rangers themselves, at risk.

Hayden wrapped her arms around Flynn, "You just made a mistake."

"Yeah..."

Flynn pulled away, stepping out of the lab and into the garage. Gemma and Hayden followed him and watched as he trashed all his creations. Hayden looked over at him sympathetically before turning back to try and help her Aunt with the Megazords.

Gemma didn't want to see Flynn hurting like this, especially when it was her fault. Sure he shouldn't have read her diary, but Gemma knew he was just trying to prove himself.

Over the holiday, Gemma had noticed the Rangers were all different and that they each had something to bring to the table to make the team stronger.

Scott was the leader. He was a quick thinker and always ready to push the team towards improvement.

Hayden was one of the hearts. She was always putting herself at risk to ensure the team's safety. With any other human it would be stupid, but thanks to her powers, the move is slightly less risky, and had saved the team many times before.

Summer was, ironically enough, like a mother bear: caring and loving towards the team (especially the younger ones and Dillon), but a beast when one of her friends was in trouble.

Mike was usually the level-headed one when everyone else was off the deep-end and he was one of the only few people ready to help anyone out with their problems. After all, Gemma heard he once chained himself to Dillon.

And speaking of Dillon, he brought something to the table as well. He was the tough bad boy, who no one wanted to mess with. In battle, everyone knew they could count on Dillon to never give up the fight, even when the odds were against him. Before the implants were removed, he fought with the strength of a tiger. And now, though he wasn't as strong or quick as before, he still kept up his image.

Ziggy even managed to strengthen the team, even with his noodle arms. He was the funny guy. He was always ready to tell a joke or make the team laugh, even when things got bad.

Greg was smart and knew how the technology worked. When Dr. K wasn't around, he was usually the one briefing the Ranger on the latest upgrades.

Then came Dani and Flynn. Both were into cars and mechanics. The only difference between the two was that Flynn could work on all sorts of technology, while Dani stuck mostly to cars and engines.

Unfortunately, the team was build on race cars and engines. That meant that the two were competing to prove themselves.

As soon as Ronny was added to the team, Flynn felt useless. She was doing the job that he once did, and Dani was always there helping her (when she wasn't with Greg or the girls). Flynn felt pushed aside and unwanted.

That could have been why Gemma's comment hurt him so much. She thought he was simple, and simple was easy to replace. But with all the technologies and upgrades he showed her today, she was starting to rethink that.

Gem and the Rangers walked past her, all yawning and ready for bed. Gem turned to her with a smile.

"Dr. K, Kaylee and Ronny said they didn't need any help at the moment and we're all going to bed. Are you coming?" he asked his sister. Gemma glanced over at Flynn, then at her brother.

"No, you go, I'll be right there."

Gem nodded turning and leaving on his own. It felt weird, but his sister told him she would be right with him.

Flynn had gone to bed with the others, leaving his stuff in the trash. Gemma walked over to his station and looked down.

His technology was amazing, and had helped the Rangers outside the battlefield. Why couldn't it work elsewhere?

She picked up the little wheel Flynn had called his masterpiece and hooked the wires up to the computer.

She figured Flynn needed a little help in the information area of his work. He didn't quite know how things worked. Gemma did. After working alongside Dr. K and Greg for the past few months, she knew Project Ranger like the back of her own hands.

Flynn stepped out of his room for a moment, toothbrush in hand, before he saw Gemma at his station, touching his stuff. He put his toothbrush away and jumped down the stairs.

"That's my stuff you're messing with!" he frowned.

"What do you call this thing?" Gemma asked, holding up the wheel. Flynn was a little shocked at her reaction to his yelling.

"It's uh... self deploying combat weapon... it never really got to the naming stage..."

"Well I was looking at the scans, and it's brilliant!" Gemma exclaimed. Flynn looked down at her and frowned.

"Alright, what's your angle here, missy?" he asked.

"No angle," Gemma shrugged, "but how about we give your fantastic little weapon some upgrades? Just you and me?"

"You and me?" Flynn asked. He was surprised Gemma was so willing to work with him and not Gem. "You're not gonna... um..."

"... finish your sentences?" Gemma asked him. "Nope!"

"Right," Flynn nodded slowly. "Okay..."

"Hey, how do you feel about the name... Road Attack Zord?" Gemma asked. Flynn thought for a moment. He had to admit, the name sounded pretty cool. He sat down beside Gemma and the two started their work.

They had to stay up all night to make sure everything was going to work as planned. Gemma even caught Flynn falling asleep at one point and laughed.

About an hour later, the roles were reversed and Flynn spotted Gemma sleeping soundly.

Come morning, the two were sleeping, using the tools as pillows for their heads. On the side, the little wheel sat, all ready for battle, whenever the time would come.

The two were suddenly awoken by an earthquake that was tearing the building apart. The other Rangers ran down and into the lab for their orders. Gemma and Flynn grabbed the small wheel and smiled before joining the others.

"Venjix attack bot, city square!" Dr. K announced.

Summer saw the readings of the bot on the screen and her eyes widened, "This bot is off the charts."

"What about our Megazord power cells?" Dillon asked.

Dr. K swirled around in her chair and pointed to the three bodies passed out on the ground. Apparently Ronny, Kaylee and Dani had worked long and hard during the night, and were exhausted.

"Does that answer your question, Dillon?" Dr. K asked.

"So, is that a no?" Ziggy frowned.

Another shock hit the city and the Rangers, minus Flynn bolted.

Flynn caught Dr. K's attention. He knew he was going to have to tell her about the Zord sooner or later.

"Dr. K, I've created something new!"

"It's the Road Attack Zord," Gemma explained. "I helped him upload it into your system!"

"You two accessed my bio-energy systems without my permission!" Dr. K yelled, turning to check up on her systems.

"We could down-morph it and..."

"... use it to fend off the attack-bot," Gemma finished for Flynn. He looked over at her, giving her a strange look, but Gemma didn't noticed. She was too busy trying to convince Dr. K to try Flynn's technology.

"That's a negative!" Dr. K shook her head. "Unleashing this unproven, untested entity is likely to backfire and destroy us all! "Now get out there, we're wasting time!"

-----RPM-----

"Let's pound this hammer!" Scott yelled, running straight into battle with the other Rangers. With a simple swing of his arm (which, like the rest of him) was in the shape of a hammer, he could easily knock the Rangers down. The fact that none of their attacks seemed to do any damage wasn't much help either.

Dillon tried his hand, but after being cured of his robotic hardware, he didn't have strength or power he used to, and quickly found himself on the ground with the others.

"Hey, welcome to the club. First time fallers must sign their name and pick a number before rising," Hayden smirked.

Tenaya, willing to prove herself to Venjix after her last failure, appeared on the battlefield. She had her eyes on one target, choosing to leave the rest for the hammer-bot.

Yellow Ranger.

She ran towards, Summer, who like the others was on the ground, but before she could make it, Flynn jumped in. He managed to hold her off while the others returned to battling the hammer. They were going to need all the help they could get.

Before going back to battle, Hayden turned to her cousin.

"Ha-ha, now that he's not semi-robotic, your boyfriend's not the strongest!"

"Shut up, Mayday!" Summer smirked. Hayden crossed her arms as Summer moved into the battle.

"Hey! Only Christian can call me that because he's got the speech of a two year old!"

Sadly, even after Hayden joined in and Flynn held off Tenaya, round two against the hammer didn't end well for the Rangers.

"Dr. K, I think we need back up!" Scott called.

Flynn grabbed his morpher, "Dr. K, send in the wheel! If anyone knows their way around..."

"_A tire, it's Flynn!"_ Gemma finished. Flynn groaned on his end of the communications, but couldn't object. He was sure his technology could help the Rangers, this time.

"_C'mon Dr. K, you have to trust him!" _Gemma insisted.

"Doc, please, we need something!" Hayden begged.

"_Standby for Road Attack Zord down morph!" _Dr. K called.

The wheel, not at a bigger size, appeared in the city, nearly running the Rangers over at it rode over to the hammer-bot.

Tenaya stepped back, not wanting to becoming road kill. Just like that, she was gone.

The wheel and the bot collided and ended up in a battle of strength. Flynn proved himself when the wheel pushed the hammer-bot back, throwing it high into the sky, and into a building, where it was destroyed. The Rangers cheered, and Hayden smiled at Flynn, until the wheel came back for the Rangers.

"Dive!" Scott yelled, jumping out of the way, thinking the wheel was just slowly down its speed. Unfortunately, it came back, picking up speed.

Hayden groaned, jumping in front of it and using the small wheels around her wrists to keep it running in place. She used all the power she could to hold it back.

The wheel started spinning faster and faster, and soon it was too much for her to handle. The others were quickly by her side, helping her keeping it steady.

"Flynn, how do you stop this thing?" Ziggy asked.

Flynn stepped beside the wheel and hit it in the center. The wheel fell onto its side and shut off.

"_It's got too much power!"_ Dr. K frowned.

"I'm sorry..." Flynn breathed. "I don't know what happened!"

Gemma sighed, _"This is all my fault."_

"What do you mean?" Flynn asked.

"_My upgrade... it gave it too much power."_

"Well, then, lass, I think you just solved two problems at once," Flynn smirked. "C'mon guys, we're going back to base. Dr. K, wake up the sleepy-heads."

-----RPM-----

"... and if you simply convert the extra energy from the Road Attack to the Megazords..." Flynn said, narrating his actions before the Megazords came to life on the screens, "then all our Megazord problems are no more!"

"You're a genius!" Ronny smiled, patting Flynn on the shoulder. "How did you figure this out?"

Flynn just smiled before picking up his toolbox and heading over to the cars in the garage. He had some work to do.

-----RPM-----

_Dear awesome diary,_

_What a fascinating experience it's been, getting to know all the Rangers. I find Blue Ranger a bit more fascinating than the rest. Hayden's lucky to have him, and I'm lucky he's my best friend... aside from Greg and Dr. K of course... oh and Mr. Snuggles._

Gemma closed her diary and grabbed her stuffed tiger (Mr. Snuggles) and followed her brother to the bedrooms. Before going in with the girls, Gemma saw Flynn poke his head out of his room.

"Uh, Gemma, would you like to give me a hand building some more Venjix destroying upgrades?" he asked.

"I would love to... but I'm helping Gem with..."

"... lots of other stuff," Gem said, poking his head out and scaring Flynn. Even when they were apart, they still managed to do that twin thing. Flynn smiled at Gemma and the two went to their rooms.


	33. The Legend

Gem and Gemma looked over the charts in their hands as they approached Kaylee.

After Dillon's return from the palace, Kaylee immediately got to work on analysing the new Venjix body. She was no computer nerd (Ethan still held that title in her books), but she knew a new body meant new upgrades and more power.

She assigned the final part of the analysis to the boom-twins, hoping they would find a way to boom the enemy.

Gem and Gemma had finished their analysis and were ready to show the results to Kaylee.

"Kaylee we got the results of..."

"... the new Venjix body. You're not going to..."

"... like it!"

Kaylee rolled her eyes. At least when they were apart they didn't do this twin thing. She took the papers from them and glanced down.

"It seems he's..."

"... a lot more powerful than last time."

"He could..."

"... easily wipe out the..."

"... rest of the city if the Rangers don't..."

"... strengthen up."

"At least the sound effects are gone," Kaylee sighed.

"Kaylee, the Rangers are going..."

"... to need more training!"

"Okay, okay," Kaylee nodded. "But that's the thing. I've taught them all everything I could. I can't really teach them anything else. I mean, I trained them all differently, but I'm not about to teach Ziggy how to body check an opponent... or Flynn how to use his small size to his advantage!"

"Well, maybe you could..."

"... have someone else take care of their training?" the twins suggested. "Someone with as much experience as you."

Kaylee thought for a moment. She did have a lot of Ranger friends who could help, but none of them really had the expertise she did. They all had their teams, maybe two at the most, whereas Kaylee worked from Ninja Storm all the way to Jungle Fury. She was the only Ranger to cover so many teams...

Except one other person.

The God of Power Rangers. The man of men. The all powerful and mighty Tommy Oliver.

Kaylee started to chuckle, causing the twins to look at her as if she was insane. She just waved it off.

"Sorry, I just made myself laugh," she told them. She continued to think of Dr. O as the most powerful Rangers and it brought tears to her eyes, "Yeah right," she laughed to herself.

She grabbed her coat. Thankfully he lived in the city. As she ran off the twins called to her.

"Where are you going?" Gem asked.

"I'm going to get someone not as good as me to train this team."

She knew the twins would be confused, but teasing Dr. O, even when he wasn't there, was one of her hobbies, and boy did she love doing it.

-----RPM-----

Kaylee rang the bell to Dr. O's house and waited for him to answer. It took him a while and Kaylee could tell because she had started rocking back and forth to pass the time.

When the door finally did open, Kaylee was surprised to see someone else standing there.

"Jason?" she frowned. "What are you doing here? Did I get the wrong house?"

Kaylee leaned back to check the house number and compare it to the one on the paper she was holding. When they matched she looked up at the first ever Red Ranger and frowned.

"What's going on here?" she asked.

Though she had never worked with Jason, she and him had met on several occasions after her retirement. Tommy had introduced them a few years after Hayden was born, and they realised they had something in common.

They loved to tease Tommy.

Jason did it in more of a brotherly way. Tommy was his best friend and because they were best friends, and because they were guys, they enjoyed teasing each other.

Kaylee loved to tease him because she was Kaylee, and it was what she did best.

"I can't visit my friend every once in a while?" Jason laughed, stepping aside to let Kaylee in.

"Yeah, you can, just not when I want to," she smirked. Jason took her jacket and hung it up. Kaylee looked around the house from where she was standing, but couldn't see Dr. O.

"So, where is the old doctor?" she asked. "He's not out looking for dino bones again, is he? There's only so much you can find in a post-apocalyptic domed city."

"He's getting groceries and forgot I was coming over."

"So you let yourself in?" Kaylee asked.

"Of course. Payback for forgetting me," Jason grinned. "I also ate his the last few cookies."

Kaylee crossed her arms and frowned.

"What?" Jason asked. Kaylee turned away.

"You didn't leave me any," she scoffed. Jason laughed, scratching the back of his neck.

"I would have if I knew you were coming."

"You didn't know?" Kaylee asked, a smirk coming to her lips.

"No, you didn't call!" Jason laughed.

"I thought you were psychic. Man, now you've let me down. I don't like you anymore Jason Lee Scott."

Jason shook his head and laughed. Typical Kaylee. He knew she was just kidding. He was proven right when the door clicked and Tommy walked in, carrying more than his share of groceries.

He jumped slightly when he saw his best friend and former student standing before him, in his own house.

That's when it clicked.

"Jason? Oh, shit, I forgot you were coming!"

"I can see that," Jason laughed.

"Dr. K, do you need a hand with all that?" Kaylee asked as Dr. k struggled to keep the bags up.

"It would be nice," Tommy nodded.

Jason shook his head, "Oh no, man, you forgot I was coming. This is payback part two!"

"Part two... never mind," Tommy frowned. "Kaylee, could you..."

"Sorry, you gave me a D on my test," Kaylee grinned, going to the kitchen and taking a seat.

Tommy groaned. He knew it was a bad idea to introduce them. He quickly walked to the kitchen and dropped everything on the counter.

"Alright, so why are you here, Kaylee? I take it Jason didn't invite you over for Dude Day," Tommy frowned, putting the stuff away.

"Dude day?" Kaylee frowned, looking at the two grown men. "Really, you call it that? Dr. O, Jason, I know you guys are old but... who says dude day?"

"Our guy bonding time," Jason rolled his eyes. But that didn't work for Kaylee.

"You know, that's what some gay men call a date," Kaylee smirked. "You guys didn't tell me you were gay!"

"Kaylee..." Dr. O started with a warning tone.

"I mean, I know there's still a little controversy around the subject, but you guys know I would still love you!"

"Kaylee..." Jason frowned.

"Why didn't you tell me? I admit, I would have teased you a bit at first but..."

"Kaylee!" both men yelled, finally shutting the blonde up. Kaylee looked over at them. "We're not gay."

"Oh... well you could have fooled me," Kaylee said. She got up and walked over to the cookie jar. Before reaching in, she turned to Dr. O. "Anyways, the real reason I'm here is because RPM needs your help."

Dr. O sighed, "Kaylee, I'm in my fifties now. I can't go out in tight spandex."

"Oh, it's not spandex," Kaylee smirked. "It's a self-sustaining nano-fibre capable of..."

Kaylee stopped there, leaving Jason and Dr. O hanging. She didn't seem like she was going to complete the sentence on her own, so Dr. O questioned her.

"Capable of what?" he asked.

"I don't know," Kaylee shrugged. "That's usually the part where someone grabs Dr. K and covers her mouth to keep her from killing someone."

Jason and Tommy looked over at each other and sighed. Typical Kaylee.

"You know, Dr. O, you shouldn't call it spandex when you meet Dr. K... oh, hey, you know, if you and Dr. K were to hook up, you guys could be Dr. OK!"

"Kaylee, get back to the helping RPM thing," Tommy laughed, bringing Kaylee back to reality.

"Oh, right... I mean, OK," Kaylee giggled a little before getting serious. "I didn't mean as a Ranger. I need someone else to train the team a bit and get them up on a new level. I taught them all I could, and now I need someone else with skills, and you're the only dude I could think of."

Jason cleared his throat and glared at Kaylee. She smiled at him then reached for a glass and filled it with water.

"Here you go, Jason. You sound nasty. A little water should help."

Jason took the glass and sighed.

"Anyways, what do you say Dr. O, are you in?" Kaylee asked.

Tommy looked over at Jason. The former red Ranger shrugged. Tommy laughed, taking it as the go ahead and turned to Kaylee with a smile.

"I'm in," he said.

"Whoa, if I knew you had to clear it with Mrs. Oliver I would have just asked him," Kaylee laughed, referring to Dr. O silently asking Jason if he could. Tommy growled.

"Kaylee..."

"Oh, Dr. O," Kaylee called, reaching her hand into the cookie jar, but finding it empty.

"Yes, Kaylee," Dr. O breathed.

"You don't have any more cookies. Someone must have finished them!"

Kaylee skipped out of the house and to her car where she would wait for Dr. O.

Tommy frowned, running over to his cookie jar and looking inside. He could have sworn it was half full when he left.

"Jason," he growled, turning to his friend.

"C'mon, man, you gotta hurry, you've got a team to train!" Jason said, grabbing Dr. O's shoulder and pushing him out the door.

"But..." Jason shut the door, sending Dr. O to the car. He watched his friend leave with Kaylee, then pulled the last cookie out of his pocket.

"All mine," he smirked, stuffing it in his mouth.

-----RPM-----

"There she is!" Ziggy smiled, seeing Kaylee's car pull into the garage after being gone for close to two hours. "See, I told you guys she would be back."

"Ziggy, you told us she was sucked into a black hole," Scott laughed.

"Yeah... but after than I told you she would be back."

"There's no coming back from a black hole, Ziguardo," Dillon said.

Kaylee got out of the car seconds before the man in the passenger seat. As he stepped out, Ziggy, Scott, Greg and Flynn's jaws all dropped.

"Is... is that... that's... that's..."

"Zig, you're drooling," Mike smirked, pushing Ziggy's mouth shut. Ziggy swatted his hand away.

"It's Tommy Oliver!"

"So?" Dillon asked.

"He's the dude on all the tapes!" Scott smiled, explaining Tommy's Ranger power to Dillon. "He's _the_ legendary Power Ranger and the most powerful Ranger of all times! He's like... a total GOD!"

Kaylee started laughing, wiping the tears from her eyes as Dr. O glanced at her.

"What?" he frowned.

"Nothing... it just gets funnier every time!" she giggled.

"Mom, why is Dr. O here?" Hayden asked. "Oh no... you're not sending us all to school are you?"

"Oh... I never thought of that," Kaylee beamed. Dani frowned at the pink Ranger and punched her in the arm. Hayden turned away from Dani, laughing nervously for planting that seed in her mother's head.

"He's not here for school," Kaylee laughed. "He's here to train you guys..."

Kaylee stopped when Ziggy fainted, hitting the ground. Her eyes widened as she turned to Dr. O.

"I knew I should have chosen Jason..." she frowned. Dr. O smiled, stepping forward.

Dillon grabbed Ziggy's collar and pulled him to his feet, snapping him out of unconsciousness so he could listen to his new mentor. Of course, the boys were all paying very close attention.

Mike, Summer, Hayden and Dani all knew Dr. O for years now, so the fact that he was a legend and a Ranger celebrity didn't faze him like it did Scott, Flynn Ziggy and Greg.

"Look guys, I'm just like the rest of you," Dr. O smiled. "I'm just here to train you all and get you up to par with Venjix."

"We don't need help against Venjix," Dillon frowned. "I can handle him on my own!"

Hayden chuckled slightly, "Okay," she said.

"Kaylee told me that Venjix has a new body, and he's growing stronger. If anything, you guys have to grow with him and stay one step ahead of him in your plans."

"And you're supposed to teach us?" Summer asked.

"I am the best," Tommy grinned. Kaylee started laughing again, and Tommy was starting to think she was laughing at him. He glanced over at her, and she recomposed herself.

"Dr. O is going to take over your training for today and you guys are going to work hard. He's only here for the day so that means your hours of training have doubled," Kaylee announced. Dr. O turned to her.

"That's a lot of training for one day," he frowned. "I could come back tomorrow."

"I already crashed one date," Kaylee snickered. "I think that's enough."

"A date?" Mike asked. "Um, Dr. O, why would you date?"

"It's not a date... you know what... never mind. Let's just get to work. Where's the gym?"

"You're standing in it," Dani smiled.

"What about the cars?" Tommy asked. Gem and Gemma popped out from the lab with huge grins on their faces.

"We'll get them out!" they called, holding up a remote. Every Ranger turned to them and all yelled.

"NO!"

"It's boom hour!" the twins smiled.

"Start the training," Kaylee frowned, running to the lab, "I'll find some other target for boom hour."

Tommy nodded, not wanting to know what boom hour was.

When Kaylee met the twins, she noticed they had an obsession with explosions and like every other obsession, they needed an outlet. Kaylee had invented boom hour to give the twins their daily dose of explosions, while keeping the Rangers safe.

Tommy lined up the Rangers and took a good look at their colours. Red, Blue, Yellow, Pink, two Greens, Black, Silver and Gold.

"Alright, I'm not going to start you guys off with something physical," Tommy smiled. "We'll have a lot of time for that later. Right now, I want to know your names and the reason you guys are Rangers."

"Um," Ziggy raised his hand nervously. Dr. O couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes," he smiled.

"How will this help us defeat Venjix?"

"If I get to know you guys, I can work on improving your fighting abilities and your teamwork skills."

Ziggy nodded, putting his hand back.

Dr. O turned back to the group.

"So, how about we start with the red Ranger and go from there?" he suggested. He motioned to Scott to begin.

"Um, I'm Scott," Scott started.

The Rangers decided to have some fun and all together they called out, "Hi Scott."

Scott laughed and joined in, "I'm here because I think I'm too good for the military."

Tommy sighed as the Rangers all laughed under their breath, "Good... now let's move onto Blue."

"Hello, I'm Flynn," Flynn smiled and paused so the others could continue with the joke.

"Hi Flynn!"

"And I'm here because no good deed goes unpunished."

Hayden was next.

"Hi guys, I'm Hayden."

"Hi Hayden."

"And I'm here because my mommy's the head of Project Ranger."

Summer had to keep from laughing as she went.

"Hi, I'm Summer, and I'm here because, unlike my sister, I can work with relatives."

"I'm, I'm Mike, and I'm here because that Nathan kid was a jackass!"

"Yeah," Hayden nodded.

Dillon rolled his eyes. He might as well join in too.

"Hi, I'm Dillon and I'm here because I was emotionally unstable and couldn't remember my past."

"Hey guys, I'm Ziggy, or The Zigster if you prefer, and I'm here because Kaylee Hanson saw potential in me and chose me to be a Ranger!"

"I'm Dani and I'm here because I stumbled upon my morpher."

"I'm Greg and I'm here because I put myself here."

Dr. O nodded. Everyone was gone and he had to admit, they did seem to be a very close team. That would serve them well. But he was here to help them improve in battles.

"Alright, moving on, we're going to try individual combat. One by one you guys are going to spar with me and I'll be able to analyse..."

Dr. O stopped as Ziggy passed out again.

-----RPM-----

After the sparing, Tommy didn't really see anything the Rangers needed to improve on. They were all strong in their own way, and fought with their own style. It was important that they were all different in battle, just as it was important that they be able to fight together.

Dr. O's next lesson had been that. He asked that the team come at him in one move and knock him down. They did it, using their strengths to help him.

As the Rangers stood in a line once more, Tommy looked over them. There wasn't much he could do to help them when I came to fights, but he did notice something weak in the team.

Mike was playfully poking Summer in the ribs, making her jump and scream every time. And every time she did, she would turn and smack him on the head.

Dr. O knew for years now that the McKnight girls and Mike didn't always get along so well and they loved teasing each other. When they were doing it for fun, it was okay, but sometimes they would tease each other just to bug the other. That wouldn't help the team if one got mad at the other.

Ziggy was pestering Dillon with facts about Tommy and Dillon just seemed to shrug them off. He wasn't listening to the L-Green Ranger, just like how in the exercise he didn't like to listen to Scott. Dillon didn't seem to like taking orders from others.

That was just a few of the flaws on the team. When it came to battles, they were all fighting together and winning together. But there were some cracks that Venjix could get at. He decided to work on those.

"Alright, now for this exercise I would like you guys to pair up with your best friend on the team," Tommy ordered.

The Rangers paired themselves up, which wasn't very hard. Flynn and Hayden were a team. Dillon and Summer chose each other. Dani and Greg were obviously going to be with each other, and Scott and Mike agreed to a team.

Ziggy stood alone.

"Oh, I see how it is," Ziggy smiled. "You guys didn't want to fight over me, so you all chose someone else."

"Sure, Ziggy," Hayden laughed. "If you say so."

"Um, Dr. O, you're not going to ask us to fight against our best friend, are you?" Summer frowned.

"I could," Tommy smiled. Summer looked up at Dillon and backed away. She was still healing from her adventure to rescue Dillon and was sore, especially after the long training session Dr. O just put her through. She didn't think she could handle a friendly fight against Dillon, even if he went easy on her.

She stepped over beside Ziggy and grabbed his arm.

"No offense Dillon, but I just recovered. I don't wanna go back to the hospital bed."

Dillon frowned, until Dr. O explained what they were going to do.

"You guys are going to fight against someone else from the team, who isn't your partner and you have to explain why you chose them."

Dillon's hand shot up into the air, "I choose Ziggy because he stole my girl!"

-----RPM-----

Tommy smiled as the Rangers laid on the floor, breathing heavily. He was right when he figured that battling another team-mate would get some issues off their chests.

Dillon and Ziggy were laughing about how Dillon won their fight, and were even joking about how Ziggy could have taken Dillon on if he had time to stretch.

Mike and Summer were smiling at each other and playfully throwing water at the other person. Of course, they were still hitting each other with things, but at least it wasn't to bug the other person.

Flynn and Dani were talking about cars and how cool it would be if they built a supercar together. Tommy didn't know how a fight could lead to mechanics, but it worked.

Now though, he was going to show the team what he was made of. After all, he was the Great Tommy Oliver. He couldn't train a team without showing off his battle skills.

"Alright guys, you all did well today," he smiled, "but I'm not done here."

"You're not?" Greg groaned.

"No," Tommy sighed. "You guys are a great team, and Venjix is going to have a hard time if he ever tried to destroy you, but there's still a lot you need to work on."

"But that's why you're here," Dani frowned. "Aunt K said that you were going to train us. You just spend the last... ten hours with us, and now you tell us there's still a lot that needs to be done."

Tommy laughed and nodded, "There's nothing really that I can teach you guys, anymore. That might have been Kaylee's mistake. Like I said before, you guys are an awesome team, and now that you've worked out your issues, you're stronger. All you really need to do is practice and you can do this."

Tommy called Kaylee into the room and the two smirked. They circled each other as the fight began.

Kaylee started, kicking her foot up and aiming for Dr. O's head. He ducked and pulled away. Kaylee stepped forward and swung her arms out. Dr. O pushed them away, trying to stay on the defensive until Kaylee' let her guard down.

Kaylee had a bit too much momentum, giving Tommy the chance he was looking for. He pushed forward, grabbing her arms and throwing her down to the ground. Kaylee knew this was going to happen and on her way down, she pulled her teacher with her and threw him aside.

Both got up at the same time and glared at each other. Tommy jumped, kicking his leg over Kaylee's head. She pulled away and swung her arms around to tried and hit Dr. O on his way down. She missed but quickly tried to knock Dr. O's legs out from under him. He jumped into the air again and flipped to the side. Kaylee groaned, following him.

Dr. O came up behind her and grabbed her arms. Kaylee giggled. She knew this trick. She grabbed him and pulled him over her shoulder. Dr. O was surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered and pulled Kaylee down with him. The two rolled together on the ground for a moment before stopping.

Dr. O was on top of Kaylee, ready for the final blow.

"HIT HER!" the Rangers all encouraged the doctor. He laughed and helped Kaylee to her feet. She dusted herself off as Tommy looked at the team.

"Practice makes perfect, team," he said. "Whenever you guys are looking for something to do, it can't hurt to train."

"If Tommy Oliver says to train, then I'll train all day!" Ziggy smiled. "Soon, these guns will be unstoppable!"

Ziggy flexed his arm muscles and kissed them, causing the team to laugh. After all, he was noodle arms.

Kaylee looked at Tommy and smiled.

"So, any last words to the team before your male bonding time?" she asked him. Tommy laughed and looked over at the teens.

"Hi, I'm Tommy Oliver, and I'm here because I'm the kick ass Ranger legend."

The Rangers all smiled, and Tommy gave them hugs and high fives. Kaylee stood, totally confused.

"Um... what's with the Ranger self-help group thing?" she asked.

"It's nothing Kayl," Tommy laughed.

"Alright, all I know is in self-help groups, you're not supposed to lie. After all, I am the _only_ kick ass Ranger Legend!"

_Author's Note:_ Seeing as I'm all caught up with the episodes, you guys know I have a lot of in between chapters. Now I heard the next episode wasn't going to until September 5th, giving me two weeks of original chapter time. This means that a lot of my chapter will just be filler chapters or small little adventure stories.

Anyways, I hope you guys liked this one. Tommy coming back seemed like a good idea. After all, he was the King of Rangers, and in the Kaylee series, Kaylee ended being the Queen of Rangers. I figured it would be cool to have Tommy helping Kaylee's team for a day.

I also hope you guys like the team bonding thing Tommy did. There might be some more of that in the upcoming chapters (minus Tommy though). Oh, and that little battle scene between Kaylee and Tommy was for the Tommy fans. After all, I couldn't have him come back and not show him kicking ass or leave out his martial arts skills.

Let me know what you think.


	34. Returning Rivals

Dr. K was sitting in her lab looking over her research results. So far, it seemed like love was something that made people happy.

Take Flynn and Hayden for example. Dr. K went to their file. Flynn and Hayden were always happy and joking around with each other.

If one were to look at Dillon and Summer, one would see that Summer always finds a way to brighten up Dillon's day. She definitely lived up to her name.

Scott and Sam were happy together as well. They seemed to understand each other on a level no one else did.

And finally, Dani and Greg. Dr. K spend a lot of time researching them, not only because Greg was one of her best friends and she could get close to him without, but because their relationship was very similar to the one Dr. K believed she would be in with Ziggy. And she realised, if those two can make it and be happy, then there was a chance that she would be with Ziggy.

Dr. K's paperwork was complete and Dr. K was no longer intimidated by letting her emotions free. If she was right, which she always seemed to be, love wasn't going to hurt her.

It was time to do some field work.

-----RPM-----

Ziggy and Hayden were sitting on the couch, backwards, because they were just that bored.

They were also discussing powers. Because Ziggy didn't have any, he thought it would be cool if he could fly, or turn invisible, or heal.

"So, aside from the blood loss thing, is it impossible for you to die?" he asked. Hayden shook her head.

"Well, if I were to lose my powers and get hurt, I could die," Hayden shrugged, "And, this hasn't been proven or anything, and it's just my belief, but I think if I were to get sick with an incurable virus or disease, it could kill me."

Ziggy sat up and looked over at the young girl, "How? I though your body would just heal it?"

Hayden laughed, "I said it was incurable, Zigster. There are some diseases that the body just can't seem to cure on its own, and needs medicine for a little help. But I think that if I do catch something that a regular body can't cure, mine won't be able to either."

"Why?"

"Because my body heals like you guys, just really, really fast. So if there's something out there that the human body and medicine can't cure, I think I'm just as vulnerable to it as you guys."

"So, you're not indestructible?"

"Sadly, no. But I don't think there's anything out there the body can't handle, so in a way, I am invincible."

"Sweet!" Ziggy smiled.

Dr. K stepped in the room, putting the clipboard in her hands down. She walked over to Ziggy and Hayden.

"Hayden and Ziggy, you two are upside down?" she asked them.

"Yep," Hayden nodded.

"We're bored, Doc," Ziggy smiled.

"Is this some kind of special brain exercise that will aid you in battle?" Dr. K asked.

"Nope," Hayden said.

"We're just bored, Doc," Ziggy repeated.

"I see... anyways, if it's no trouble I would like to speak with you, Ziggy," Dr. K said. This made Ziggy turn around and sit up straight. Hayden did as well, only because last time Dr. K asked to speak with Ziggy, it was entertaining.

"Shoot, Doc. I'm ready to hear anything and everything you have to say to me!" Ziggy smiled.

"I will start with a compliment," Dr. K stated, "Ziggy, you look very handsome today."

"Whoa," Ziggy frowned, a little surprised those words came out of the small doctor's mouth. She never complimented him. Now she was doing it freely. Was there a gun aimed at her or something? "Wow, thank you Dr. K... you know, I did shower this morning and I feel good!"

"No wonder you don't stink," Hayden giggled.

"So, what else would you like to tell me?" Ziggy asked.

Dr. K took a breath and prepared herself.

Suddenly, the doors to the garage flew open as four teenagers walked in. All wore angry expressions on their faces.

Hayden's expression seemed to sour as soon as she locked eyes with the boy on the far right. They were caught in an angry staring contest, with neither backing down.

The only difference Dr. K and Ziggy spotted between the two, was that Hayden's anger was trying to make the tears forming in her eyes.

"Hayden, so good to see you again," the boy in the middle laughed.

"Alex," Hayden growled, never taking her eyes of the boy with brown hair.

Ziggy leaned over, tapping Hayden on the shoulder.

"Um, you know these guys?" he asked.

"Unfortunately," Hayden growled.

Summer walked into the garage with Dillon after picking up groceries and she spotted the four teenagers. Her expression dropped as she dropped her bags and she ran over to Hayden, putting her young cousin behind her protectively.

"Get the fuck out of the Ranger base," she growled to the teens.

Alex laughed, looking at the others, "Did you guys hear that?" he asked. "She thinks we're going to listen to her."

"We're just here as a warning," the boy on the right smirked. The girl nodded.

"Yep," she smiled. "You guys are going to pay for ratting us out."

"We didn't rat you out," Summer frowned. Her hand was placed on Hayden's arm, and held it tight to comfort her. Everyone could see she was feeling a little uneasy. "You guys failed for rule violations and for being jackasses!"

"We wouldn't have failed for rule violations if little Hayden over here didn't call us out in the middle of a challenge," the girl grinned, pointing to Hayden. Summer got a sick feeling in her stomach as she watched the smiles on the four teens' faces. She knew they were up to something.

It had been a little under a year now since Mike, Hayden and Summer were chosen for RPM and since they had distanced themselves from their rivals. What was dangerous about that was the fact that they parted on bad terms.

Parting on bad terms meant that this situation was going to happen sooner or later. Of course the rivals were going to want revenge. It was a really dangerous deal, especially seeing as they knew the Rangers so well now. They knew their powers well, and a year to study them meant they could have found weaknesses.

Summer didn't want to risk it. She kept Hayden behind her as she glared at the rivals.

"Get out of our base," she said.

"We'll get out when we damn well please!" the boy on the right smirked. Dillon walked up behind the group, standing over all of them with a look that told them he wasn't happy.

"My girlfriend told you leave. I suggest you do before Kaylee starts obsessing over a new kind of sandwich."

"Which kind?" Alex asked, being the only one to step up to Dillon.

"Knuckle," Dillon smirked before his fist met Alex's face. Alex fell to the ground, holding his jaw while the others helped him up.

"The dude's insane!" the boy on the left frowned before running out.

Hayden stepped out from behind Summer, "Yeah, and he's not even angry yet!"

"Oh, now you speak up," Summer laughed.

"Um," Ziggy started, reminding Summer and Hayden that he was present and he had seen the whole thing, "Who were they?"

"The kid got blood on my hand," Dillon frowned, looking at his fist. Summer patted Dillon's shoulder with mock sympathy and watched as Hayden explained to Ziggy and Dr. K who the four teens were.

"The guy Pickle punched was Alex," she said, "The guy on the left was Nathan... my ex-boyfriend."

Flynn had somehow wormed his way into the room to hear that and was in shock.

"Did I hear something about an ex?" he asked.

"Those kids were the four kids my mom and Aunt Kira put us against in the test for the Ranger suits. They were caught cheating and breaking the rules and causing bodily harm so mom kicked them out," Hayden explained.

"I'm guessing by your intense staring contest you and Nathan aren't the best of friends?" Ziggy frowned.

"He said he loved me but he was just another huge jackass who broke my heart," Hayden lowered her head, remembering that day clearly. Nathan had been the first boy that Hayden fell for, hard, and in the end, it seemed he would rather cheat and wear the Ranger suit than be with her.

Dr. K saw the tears as Hayden continued to explain to Ziggy, Dillon and Flynn how Nathan, Alex and the other two rivals lost their position on the team. The more Hayden spoke about Nathan, the more hate Dr. K saw in her eyes.

At the same time, Dr. K saw pain. There were still some scars left from the broken heart Hayden had suffered.

Maybe love wasn't all fun and games. Maybe Dr. K was taking too big of a risk. After all, she knew there was only one person out there for everyone. Chances were she wouldn't find him right off the bat.

What if her heart was broken again? Dr. K knew she couldn't deal with the pain again.

She slowly slipped away from the Rangers as the others assembled. She was going to have to do more research on love to figure out if it was worth it.

-----RPM-----

With her clipboard in hand, Dr. K walked to Kaylee's bedroom. She knocked on the open door and stepped inside.

"Come in?" Kaylee laughed. Dr. K took a spot beside her on the bed.

"I would like some help," she stated.

"Okay... wow... um... help with what?"

"Love."

"Hello!" Kaylee frowned, moving away from Dr. K and jumping off the bed. "I really don't feel like having that talk again."

"I don't need the talk," Dr. K sighed, rolling her eyes. "I need to know if love is worth it."

"Worth it? What do you mean by that?" Kaylee asked.

"I mean... I don't know. I was hoping you would have some answers," Dr. K looked up at Kaylee. Kaylee pulled away.

"Whoa... um... it is?"

"It is what, Kaylee?"

"It's worth it?" Kaylee suggested.

"How?"

"How? Um... well, when you find the one person who..."

"Is there any way to find him without the heartbreak?"

"Oh, okay now I know where this is going," Kaylee smiled. She sat back down with Dr. K and wrapped her arm around her. "Alright, K, listen up. The heartbreak is a part of the deal. Without it you wouldn't know what you want. When it happens, you are broken, devastated and totally lost and confused. But if it never happened, you would be stuck in a relationship you would regret. You wouldn't know what you want in a partner and you would never be happy."

"Please explain."

"I just did!" Kaylee groaned. "Look, when it comes to love, you have to take the good with the bad. There are no skipping steps or counting cards. All you have to do is put yourself out there."

"But I don't want to get hurt," Dr. K admitted. Kaylee squeezed her gently.

"It's a good kind of hurt, K," Kaylee smiled. "It's a hurt that'll make you grow. And if you do get hurt, it's not the end of the world. There is always going to be someone by your side who's going to help you through it all."

"Who?"

"Friends? Family. People who already love you, and who always will."

"Are you sure it's worth it?" Dr. K asked.

"Absolutely," Kaylee nodded with a huge grin. "I wouldn't tell you otherwise, Doc, and I wouldn't let anything keep you from being who you are. If you let things happen, you'll find life is a lot easier."

"Thank you, Kaylee," Dr. K said, taking her clipboard. "Some more research is still required, but you did help further it."

Kaylee laughed and smiled, "Anytime doc! Oh, and when you go talk to Ziggy, tell him he owes me ten bucks!"

Dr. K turned around with a shocked expression. She tried to recompose herself quickly and steer Kaylee in the wrong direction, "It is in no way Ziggy the man that I'm..."

"Please, Dr. K, I'm a mom, I know these things."

"You're not my mom."

"After this talk, I might as well be," Kaylee grinned. "Don't worry, I won't tell him."

Dr. K smiled and turned to walk away.

"But he still owes me ten bucks!" Kaylee called after her.

-----RPM-----

Meanwhile, Hayden was in the park with Mike, Summer and Flynn, beating up a poor punching bag that never stood a chance as she thought of Nathan's return.

"He was such a jerk!" she screamed, beating another hole into the bag.

"Take it easy, Hay," Mike frowned. "Save it for the fight."

"Fucking son of a bitch really thinks he can mess with me?" Hayden frowned, hitting the bag and making the hole bigger. "I'm in-fucking-vincible!"

Around the corner, Chloe was watching closing as she snuck up to the group. They never detected her as she unscrewed the top to the pink water bottle (the bottle that should have been hers), and poured some powder inside. She shook it, mixing the powder with the water, before sneaking away.

"Him, and his stupid sister and cousins are the most despicable human beings on this planet!" Hayden yelled. "Billions of people died at the end of the world, and they couldn't be included in that?"

"That's a little rough, don't you think?" Summer frowned. "I mean, he broke your heart. He deserves to be buried to his neck and left to rot. But to want him dead...?"

"I don't know," Flynn said, cracking his knuckles. "I really don't like the kid."

"Of course not," Mike frowned. "He broke Hayden's heart. But he doesn't deserve to die with the rest of the world's population."

"Thank you," Summer breathed.

"He deserves to be captured by Venjix and forced to work alone in a prison camp where he'll suffer for the rest of his natural life. Then, when death comes, he gets implants to keep him going and he's forced to life the rest of time as a slave to Venjix."

"I take it we really, really hate this guy," Summer sighed. Hayden hit the punching bag again, and her hand disappeared inside it. She kicked her foot up, pulling her hand out and flipping the bag over her head.

When it landed on the ground, it was no longer a bag. It was now a piece of fabric ripped apart by hate.

"Just a little," Hayden sneered. She wiped her brow and picked up her water bottle. The boys and Summer watched as she finished it, barely taking the time to breath.

"Don't choke," Flynn laughed.

"Its water," Hayden gargled through the water that hadn't gone down yet, causing some of it to overflow in her mouth and spill all over. She wiped her mouth and sighed.

"Look, guys, we're Rangers now. We can take whatever they throw at us," Summer smiled, taking the bottle from her cousin and stuffing it in her bag. "We're worrying about nothing. After all, they threatened revenge on Hayden. What are they going to do to her? She's invincible, remember?"

As Summer slung the backpack over her shoulder, the boys laughed. She was right.

"How about we go home and relax?" Mike suggested.

Flynn and Summer nodded. Hayden nodded as well, bending over to pick up the remains of the punching bag. Corinth had a strict rule on littering.

As she came back up, her vision blurred until all she saw was dark. She swayed slightly and nearly lost her footing. Thankfully, Flynn grabbed her arm to steady her.

"Whoa, lass," he said.

"Walk much?" Summer teased.

Hayden stood still for a moment as the black disappeared and her vision returned.

"I'm okay... I think I just caught mom's dizzy spells."

"You don't catch dizziness," Mike frowned. "Actually, _you_ don't catch anything. And if you do, you're body just heals it."

"Except when it comes to missing school," Summer teased.

"I'm sure it's nothing then," Hayden smiled.

"Positive, Hay?" Summer asked. Hayden nodded but had to stop. Any kind of movement caused her to become very dizzy. Now, because of it, she felt weak. Standing was proving to be a challenge.

She didn't want to worry her cousins though. After all, she had just spent the last hour working out, without a break. Her body was probably just begging to take a break.

"Yeah, it'll pass," Hayden smiled. She jumped up on Flynn's back, thinking a ride back to the garage would give her some rest. "Onwards to the castle!"


	35. Deathcode

That night, Hayden was asked to babysit her brother so her parents and Summer could go out. Kaylee was trying to make sure she spent time with all her kids, and Summer was no exception.

Seeing as Samantha had yet to return from the spirit world, Hayden was the only one left to babysit the little two year old.

He was running around, as usual, playing with a little toy rocket ship he had gotten on his night out with the parents. It was zooming around the house, blasting aliens (cookies) and saving humans (cheerios) from peril.

"Mayden, look, is big alien!" Christian giggled, showing Hayden a large cookie. Hayden smiled, bringing Christian's pyjamas down from his room so he could get ready for bed.

"Whoa, that's a huge alien. Do you think you can destroy it with one shot?" Hayden laughed.

Christian nodded, stuffing the cookie in his mouth, "Yep!"

"How about you save some more people, then I'll put on your Spiderman pyjamas?" Hayden suggested. Christian smiled, eating some cereal. When Hayden was satisfied, she picked him up and carried him over to the couch, making rocket ship noise.

"And Rocket Christian is landing in the docking station as America blesses him as a true hero for destroying all the evil aliens," Hayden laughed. "Now he's gotta change his paint and refuel for tomorrow!"

"Spiderman!" Christian smiled, throwing on his pyjamas shirt and pants. Hayden helped him into it.

She pulled up his pants and tickled his stomach before getting back up. The world started to spin again as it faded to black. Hayden held her head for a moment and shut her eyes tight.

Christian saw she was distracted, so he took off into the kitchen to get more aliens. When Hayden's vision recovered and she saw he was gone, she groaned.

"Christian, c'mon, you promised me you would go to bed if you had one extra cookie," Hayden called.

Christian stepped out of the kitchen with a handful of cookies. Hayden shook her head, taking them from him and putting them in the jar.

When she was in the kitchen, something tickled the back of her throat. She began coughing and quickly found that she couldn't stop.

"Mayden, you 'kay?" Christian asked. Hayden nodded and pointed to the stairs.

"Get in bed... I'll be up soon to say goodnight," she told him. Christian nodded and bolted for the stairs. He went into his room and turned off the light. He knew Hayden was going to turn on the nightlight when she came in, and he was going to settle for the hall light until then.

He crawled into bed and grabbed his stuffed monkey tight as he waited for his sister to come.

Downstairs, Hayden had stopped coughing and was getting a glass of cold water to help her throat. As she picked up the glass, she saw it was shaking in her hand.

"We don't own vibrating cups," Hayden frowned, a little worried something was wrong with her. She filled the glass with water and tried to drink it.

By now, she was shaking so much that she couldn't get her mouth. The water spilt everywhere.

Hayden's vision started acting up again. She watched the kitchen dance in front of her, causing her to lose her footing. She stumbled for a few seconds, trying to catch herself, before she fell over.

-----RPM-----

"No, Summer, I swear to God I've always loved you more than your mother has," Kaylee assured the eighteen year old girl. "I've told you this a million times since the day you were born."

"She's right," Dustin laughed, kissing Kaylee on the head as he stepped up to the front door of the house. "I didn't keep count, but I was there... every single time."

"See, when she wanted to potty train you, she bought you these cool pull up things, but I said, 'Kira, no, Summer's already a big kid and she doesn't need fancy diapers to know that. Throw her in underwear and see how she does!'," Kaylee grinned.

"Did I soil them?" Summer asked.

"Actually, not once," Kaylee giggled. "You're my little potty queen!"

Summer laughed and rolled her eyes at her Aunt's antics. She was slightly embarrassed, but no one else was with them.

"Sammy on the other hand had lots of problems... even with the pull ups!" Kaylee frowned. Summer put her hands to her ears. She didn't want to hear this.

The three stepped inside the house and put their stuff away before Kaylee's hears picked up loud screaming from upstairs.

This wasn't normal. Christian never screamed this loudly unless someone was ignoring him at bedtime. The crying was obvious to everyone in the house, so Hayden should have heard and should have been up there with him. And if she was up there, his crying wouldn't be this loud.

"MAYDEN!" Christian screamed, calling for his sister. Kaylee ran for the stairs, almost flying up them to get to Christian's room.

Dustin and Summer exchanged wondering what was wrong. Kaylee finally came back, holding little Christian in her arms. He was clinging onto her for dear life, refusing to let go.

"He said Hayden didn't come to say goodnight," Kaylee explained to the two. "She told him she would, then never showed."

"Why didn't she go up with you, Buddy?" Dustin asked his son.

"Toughin'," Christian answered. "Lots and lots."

Kaylee frowned. Hayden rarely coughed. Only when something tickled her throat. She wouldn't let that stop Christian's bedtime routine.

Summer knew something wasn't right. Earlier, when she and Hayden were at the park with the boys, Hayden seemed dizzy and klutzy. Now Christian was telling them she was coughing, and a lot.

"Where was she?" Summer asked, using a tone that was beginning to scare her aunt and uncle. That tone was her protective one, and it only came out when she thought something was wrong.

"Stealing my cookies," Christian frowned.

Summer knew that meant the kitchen so she walked over to it. Thankfully she kept her shoes on, because as soon as her feet hit the tiles, she felt something crunch under them. She stepped off and saw glass.

The glass was covering the floor from the start of the tiles and disappeared around the island in front of the fridge. Summer followed the trail and gasped when she saw her cousin laying on the floor.

Dustin was by her side in an instant, trying to wake Hayden. He could feel the young's girl body was burning up and was starting to panic. There was also some shards of glass stuck in her hand, and when Summer removed them, nothing happened.

Dustin did the one thing he never thought he would have to do when it came to his daughter. He looked up at Kaylee with a scared look as he forced the words out of his mouth, "Call an ambulance."

Kaylee did as she was told, and the ambulance was on its way. Knowing there was nothing she would be able to do to help; she walked over to the couch and sat down. Christian was in her lap, slowly falling asleep.

Summer sat on the ground in the living room, where she could see the kitchen. She felt horrible for letting this happen. She knew the rivals had something to do with it and she should have kept an eye on her cousin.

"How could this have happened?" Kaylee muttered. Summer looked up. Kaylee deserved to know the truth. And anyways, she was sure the rivals weren't going to stop there.

"Alex, Nathan Chloe and Zack are back," she whispered. Kaylee turned her head to her niece and frowned.

"Excuse me?"

"They came to the garage while you were in your room and they swore revenge... especially on Hayden. I think they made her sick..."

"How?" Kaylee asked. "How the hell do you make Hayden sick?"

"I don't know," Summer breathed, the feeling of guilt coming back and growing. "They never touched her..."

"Summer... what happened after they showed up?" Kaylee growled.

"We went to the park and Hayden was beating up a punching. She was fine... until..."

"Until?" Kaylee pressed.

"She took a drink of water, then started swaying... kinda like what you do when you get up too fast," Summer explained. "She... she said she was okay but..."

"And you believed her?" Kaylee yelled. Summer coward away from her aunt. She knew Kaylee's anger was directed at her, but it was being taken out on her. "Summer, I've told you endlessly the story of how I almost lost Hayden because of my dizziness! Did that never click in your head? Did you ever think of telling me she wasn't feeling right?"

"I'm sorry," Summer lowered her head in shame. Kaylee took a breath to calm down.

"So am I, Sum... I'm just... scared," Kaylee said. "So, it started at the park?"

"Yeah," Summer nodded. "She took a sip of water... well it was more than a sip but..."

Summer paused, looking over at the backpack she left in the front hall. Hayden's water bottle was hopefully still inside. She ran over, snatching her bag and pulling out the pink bottle.

"THIS!" she smiled. "This was her bottle! It might be able to help."

The paramedics ran into the house at this time and Summer quickly directed them into the kitchen. Dustin gave them the information he could as they put her on the stretcher. While they carried her away, Kaylee and Dustin had to watch the sight that scared them deeply.

Summer took the water bottle and looked up to the sky. She knew someone was going to have to analyse it to see if there was something inside that would make Hayden ill, and there was no way she could use the phone or e-mail to contact Leanne (who was the only person Summer was ready to trust with this). Any form of electronic communication, especially if it crossed over the wastelands, would be picked up by Venjix and he would know that Hayden was at risk. He would definitely use that against the Rangers.

"Sammy," she called, throwing the bottle into the air. A light pink glow appeared, snatching the bottle from the air, then disappeared.

Dustin ran over to the two girls and took Christian from his wife.

"The medics said we could follow, but I think we should drop Christian off with someone," Dustin suggested. Kaylee nodded.

"We'll go to your sister's house," she said. "Sierra hasn't seen Christian in a while and told me she was always willing to help."

"You don't want to go to your sister's?" Dustin frowned.

"Tori's got three kids to worry about," Kaylee sighed. "When I tell her the news, but I don't think she'll want to deal with Christian... especially when she tells her kids."

Dustin nodded. He grabbed his keys and walked to his car.

"I'll meet you guys at the hospital," he said.

Kaylee took her car and Summer went with her.

-----RPM-----

Doc had obviously been called to the hospital when the other doctors got news that Hayden had powers. None of them were trained to work with superhumans, so they needed David to lead them through everything.

He walked into the waiting room and saw Kaylee and Dustin waiting for him. Summer had started dozing off, and he wasn't sure she was still all there.

"So?" Dustin asked, getting to his feet. Kaylee stayed in her seat. She wasn't sure she would be able to stand through the news. Well, and Summer was using her as a pillow.

"I'm not going to lie... it's not looking good," David started. "She's got a high fever and her body's not doing anything to fight it off."

"It's not doing anything?" Kaylee asked.

"Whatever made her sick is stopping her body from functioning normally. Her powers can't work unless her body does."

"Will she be okay?"

"I hope so," Doc nodded.

"Hope?" Dustin frowned. Doc looked over at the parents.

"We're trying to find out what's made her sick, but nothing's coming up," David pulled off his glasses and took a seat beside them. "We're all going to work hard to help her out and hopefully something will come up."

"I sent her bottle to Leanne," Summer yawned. "Hayden drank out of it before getting sick. Maybe she can figure this out."

From the corner of her eyes, Summer spotted the four rivals peeking around the corner. She slowly got up and made her way to that corner. If anyone would have answers, they would.

The four grabbed her and slammed her into the wall.

"One down, three to go," Alex smirked, shoving a black and white picture of Hayden into Summer's hand. Summer crumbled it up and threw it to the ground.

"What the hell did you do to her?" she growled.

"We put a little bit of, what we like to call, Deathcode," Zack smiled, holding up a little plastic bag filled with white powder.

"Deathcode?" Summer frowned.

"Yep. A name we came up. This stuff was made to shut down Hayden's regeneration abilities. As long as it's in her system, she's never going to heal."

"And if she can't heal..." Summer started.

"It's never going to get out," Zack smiled.

"You son of a bitch," Summer growled. "You've just made an attempt at murder!"

"So?" Zack grinned. "We're just kids, what's going to happen to us? Corinth only cares about machine infiltrations and adult criminals. A bunch of teenagers..."

"A bunch of teenagers trying to murder the RPM Series Pink Power Ranger?" Summer smirked. "One of the nine defenders of one of the final cities left on Earth?"

Nathan leaned over, "We didn't think of that part..."

"It doesn't matter," Chloe grinned. "if we take down RPM, then nothing else could possibly stand in our way!"

"You really think you can take us down?" Summer frowned. "We have a year of Ranger training under our belt! You guys are just a bunch of pathetic sore losers!"

"We are not sore losers," Alex growled.

"Yahuh," Summer rolled her eyes and pointed to the sack of powder.

"RPM will fall, Summer McKnight," Nathan grinned. "And you and your little family will be the first to go."

"I've got a boyfriend who would like to test that theory," Summer smirked.

"A boyfriend willing to do anything to protect his friends? Even if that means staying out of our way?"

"Like hell we'll stay out of your way!"

"There is no cure to this, Summer," Zack said, holding up the bag once more. "Hayden's going to fall. Kaylee will be devastated. This team is as good as done."

"My aunt will never give up..."

"Call Leanne and tell her to cancel her research on the Deathcode," Alex demanded. "There's no way she'll find the cure. Zack already told you, there is none, and only we know how to flush it out."

"Tell me, then," Summer smiled.

"Why would we?" Nathan laughed.

"Because, you're afraid my aunt might figure this all out," Summer grinned. "That's the only reason you want her to stop searching."

"She'll never figure it out."

"I'll take my chances with Leanne," Summer said. "I don't trust you guys at all, and no matter what happens to me, or my cousins, I will never give up RPM to you guys."

"You're making a stupid mistake," Alex tried to warn Summer. She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked like the devil. She knew better than to give the rivals what they wanted.

"Get lost," she told them. "Everyone will believe me when I tell them you guys are behind all this. You'll be wanted in all of Corinth and NewTech once my mother hears what you've done. There will be no escaping punishment. The military will claw the cure out of you guys then leave you to rot in prison."

Suddenly, the red emergency lights turned on; alerting all the doctors that one patient was on the brink of death. The five teenagers all knew who was causing the alarms to go off.

Before the rivals left, Chloe held the bag in front of Summer, "Convince your Aunt to give us Project Ranger and full control over the surviving Rangers, and I'll tell your doctor uncle how to cure your precious cousin."

"Like hell," Summer frowned.

"Think about it, Sunshine," Nathan smiled. "What's the worse the military can do to us? After all, they need us alive and well to remember what the cure is, and I highly doubt they'll kill us to get it."

Summer turned away. She knew they were right, but she didn't want them to see that she was slowly starting to agree with them.

They had hit the RPM team right where it would hurt. Of course, if any member were dying it would be a tragic case, and everyone would be willing to do anything to save them, but Hayden was the daughter of the founder of the team. She was the cousin of not one or two, but three of the Rangers on the team. She was the girlfriend of another and best friend of the rest.

She was one of the hearts of the team that would keep them together. If she was gone, Summer knew that would spell disaster.

The red lights stopped flashing, and one green one shone for a few seconds. This meant the patient was still alive, but Summer knew Hayden wasn't close to recovering.

She turned into the hall leading to her cousin's room. She passed by her aunt and uncle on the way there. They looked truly scared.

Summer stepped into Hayden's room and saw her cousin lying on her bed. She was hooked up to several machines keeping track of her vitals.

"Mayday?" she called, hoping Hayden would be awake.

"No calling me that," came a weak reply. Summer smiled and walked over to her cousin.

"How are you feeling, squirt?" she asked.

"Remember when I was four, and you spun me around on the tires at the playground?" Hayden smiled. Summer nodded. Hayden had gotten so dizzy she couldn't walk straight for an hour. She had also thrown up a couple of times at the park. "I kinda feel like that, except in so much more pain."

"I know who did this to you, Hayden," Summer whispered. "Nathan and the other jerks... they said there was no cure."

"Of course," Hayden yelled, slamming her fists on the side of the bed.

"You're not going to die, though," Summer smiled, taking her cousin's hand. "I won't let it."

"How?"

"I don't know... they're making me choose between you and project Ranger. If I get your mom to hand it over to them, they'll tell me how to help you... but I'll figure it out, and I'll keep project Ranger safe. Don't worry."

Hayden took a deep breath, "If you have to choose..."

"I'm not going too," Summer interrupted. She knew what Hayden was going to say, and she refused to hear it, but Hayden continued anyway.

"If you have to choose, keep the city safe."

"But then I lose you... we all lose you..."

"Yeah, but it's lose me or lose project Ranger, and who knows, maybe you'll lose everyone else."

"Aunt Leah will find some way to save you, and you'll be okay! I promise Hayden, nothing's going to happen."

"I believe you, Summer, you know I do... but..."

The TV in the room turned on, like it always did when there was breaking news in Corinth. The news anchor started her report, informing the citizens of Corinth that their Pink Ranger had fallen ill.

"Well, now everyone knows... great," Summer groaned.

"Summer, choose the city if you have too, I'll be okay. I can live in the spirit world with Grandma Eva, Aunt Guinn and my grandparents."

"Are you sure, kiddo?"

Hayden nodded, "Positive. Just... protect yourself and Mike. I'm sure you guys are going to be targeted at some point. I don't need you to all land in this boat with me."

"I will," Summer smiled.

"I'm serious," Hayden let out a small smirk, "I'm in a one person boat. If you two hop in I'm pretty sure it's going to sink faster than that the Titanic."

"Get some sleep," Summer laughed, kissing her cousin on the forehead. "Don't worry about the rest of us, okay? You focus on getting better."

"How?"

"I don't know, you're the healer," Summer smiled. She got up and turned to the door, but Hayden pulled on her hand, turning her back around.

"Remember, Summer, save the city. Don't listen to your momma bear voice."

"I'll do what's right," Summer smiled, "I promise."


	36. Choices

After hearing about Hayden's condition, the Rangers in the Garage were in no mood to do anything.

Scott was sitting with Samantha, who had returned from delivering the water bottle to Leanne and needed to be in the arms of her boyfriend for comfort.

Flynn was sitting alone on his end of the couch, playing with the smoothie Gemma made him to try and comfort him. But, as he had already told everyone else, nothing was going to be of comfort until Hayden was back home.

Summer was back in the garage with Dillon, thinking about her decision. She hadn't told anybody about her encounter with the rivals. She wanted to wait until she had a better idea of what she should do.

Mike was furious, as expected, and he was beating himself up about this. He wasn't there to help Hayden at all when she got sick and he could have been. Like Summer, he could have spoken up about her random dizzy spells. Maybe then something would have been different.

Dillon was angry as well, but not for the same reason. He had grown to see Hayden as a demonic and slightly annoying little sister. When he found out someone had gone out of their way to make sure she would die, he nearly smashed a hole through the wall. On top of that, this whole situation made Summer cry. _No one_ made Summer cry without meeting his fist.

Ziggy was trying to keep everyone looking on the bright side. He had put on a puppet show to get them to laugh, but it didn't work. He was still trying, but was quickly losing hope.

Greg was looking over Hayden's past medical records and even snatched a few from the hospital so he could know her current state. He already knew Leanne was on the case in NewTech, but he figured the team would feel better if they actually saw someone working.

Dani was in a state as well. She wasn't bouncing in her seat, or smiling like a five year old. She was curled up on the couch moping. She and Hayden had always been the best of friends. They grew up living next door to each other, and they were usually in the same classes at school. They had sleepovers almost every night during the summer. If Hayden was gone, Dani wouldn't know what to do.

Dr. K was miserable as well. She was upset that she might lose a Ranger, but she was also upset that she wasn't going to be able to talk to Ziggy about her feelings, and she was going to have to bottle them up once more.

Gem and Gemma seemed to have calmed down as well. Boom hour had now turned into boom minute, if it even occurred.

"This is stupid," Dani finally said. "We're Rangers. Every day we run the risk of losing someone..."

"Yeah, but this is the first time that it's real," Sammy sighed.

"_Oh, it's real alright."_

Everyone in the Ranger base turned to the monitors as Chloe appeared. She seemed to be alone on the other end, which confused the Rangers.

"What the fuck do you want?" Mike asked, clenching his fist. Chloe laughed.

"_It's now been twenty-four hours since your precious little Hayden has fallen, and we're ready to strike a deal with you guys to save her."_

"A deal?" Scott asked.

"_Give us project Ranger. It's all we want."_

"And why would we just hand our Ranger deal over to you?" Dillon asked. "You sent one of us to the hospital."

"_Please, it was going to happen sooner or later,"_ Chloe laughed. _"Now you don't have to wait for it."_

"Give us our cousin back," Dani growled, getting up off the couch and approaching the computer.

"_I will, if you do this one thing... what colour are you?"_

"Silver," Dani glared.

"_Oh, that colour is so cool! Screw pink, I want the silver one! Put your morpher down and..."_

Summer stepped up, pulling Dani away, "You don't want silver," she said. "If you do steal our morphers, you guys are going to want a full team. You should take Pink."

"Summer, what are you doing?" Mike frowned, Summer shushed him while Chloe thought.

"_You're right... I'll stick with pink, I guess,"_ Chloe glanced over to Samantha. She didn't recognise her as a Ranger. _"You'll be the Ranger monkey. Your first job is to get the Pink morpher and rewire it to fit my DNA."_

"Ranger monkey?" Samantha frowned. She pushed herself up using Scott's leg and glared at the computer screen. "I am not a _Ranger monkey!"_

"_Says you,"_ Chloe shrugged. She held up a remote, "_You guys see this, right? This is a little device Zack created to go along with Deathcode, the virus we gave Hayden. If I push this button, she died on the spot."_

"You wouldn't push it," Samantha tested, but as soon as she saw the girl's finger inch closer to the button, she regretted it. "No... no..."

"_Do as I say, monkey, or Hayden dies."_

Samantha lowered her head. She grabbed her car keys and walked away. She didn't want to do this, but she didn't want her sister to die.

"_Well, not that you guys are at out command, I think it's time we take over this place. We'll be there in thirty minutes to choose beds. Those of you kicked off will have to sleep on the floor."_

"Like hell we..." Summer covered Dani's mouth when Chloe's finger moved towards the button.

"Don't say anything stupid, Dani,' Summer whispered.

"_Oh, and my brother and cousins want a morpher too. Any recommendations?"_

"Yeah, kiss my ass," Dillon frowned, shutting off the computer.

"So, we're just going to let them walk all over us?" Mike asked. "We're going to give them morphers and let them rule us?"

"We don't have much of a choice, lad," Flynn sighed. "It's that or Hayden dies!"

Summer pulled away from the conversation. This wasn't what Hayden wanted to happen, but it's what Summer thought was best. She couldn't let Hayden die, especially not like this.

Hayden told her to do what was right, and Summer knew this was it. She wasn't going down without a fight.

Half an hour later, Sam was back with the Pink RPM morpher, ready for another user. She couldn't believe she was stealing her sister's morpher, to give it to the girl who was trying to kill her.

"There you are, Monkey. I was beginning to think you ran off," Chloe laughed, jumping up from the couch where she sat with her brother and cousins.

"I'm not a monkey," Samantha frowned. Chloe just waved it off and looked at the morpher.

"Oh, it's so pretty," she smiled. "How does it work?"

Samantha tried to hold back a laugh. They had come this far to be Rangers, and they didn't even know how the technology worked?

"You just have to push the giant self-destruct button," Samantha smiled. She took the morpher from Chloe.

"Well, where is it?" Chloe asked.

"Right here," Samantha said, smashing the morpher into the wall. It cracked, and some of the wires started popping out. Samantha looked at it, before continuing to smash it. "You know, sometimes the button gets stuck and you have to force it a bit."

She slammed it one final time, and the morpher shattered into pieces. She looked down at it, with a look of horror on her face, before handing it to Chloe.

"Oh, Dr. K's not going to be happy when she hears that you broke the morpher!"

Chloe was appalled her monkey would defy her. She glared at Samantha and held up the big red button of doom.

"You'll regret doing that," she said.

"Not really," Samantha shrugged. "I mean, you liked silver better, right?"

"Now I have to take it," Chloe smiled. She walked over to Dani and ripped her morpher off her belt. Dani looked up at the dark haired bitch, but laughed when Chloe tried to figure it out.

"MONKEY!" she yelled when she began to really struggle.

Samantha smiled. She took the morpher and slammed it against the wall. "It works the same way."

Again, Chloe was in total shock. She didn't respond to her monkey's horrible behaviour. She just grabbed Summer's morpher and sat back down.

"I'll figure this one out on my own," she said.

Samantha grinned, "Okay."

Dani looked over at her oldest cousin, "What the fuck?"

Samantha smirked, "Now, you're not a Ranger and Summer's not a Ranger. You don't have to listen to her anymore."

"Ooh," Dani smiled.

"I've chosen my colour!" Zack smiled, standing up.

"It better not be red," Alex grinned, looking at Scott and snatching his morpher. The former red Ranger sighed, but smiled when he realised Samantha was right. Now he wasn't a Ranger, he wasn't on the team, and he didn't have to be a Ranger monkey.

"Black," Zack smiled.

A bunch of _oohs_ and _uh-ohs_ sounded through the room as Dillon turned to look at the little nerd of the group.

"Do you really want my colour?" he asked.

"Actually, yes," Zack smiled.

"And what on earth makes you think I'm just going to hand it over?"

Chloe tossed Zack the red button. Dillon eyed the little nerd carefully.

"You push that button and I will serve you to the cat tomorrow morning," he said.

"There's a cat?" Zack asked.

Karly bounced out from under the couch and grabbed onto Zack's back, attacking him with her claws.

"Eat dog food you furless freak!" Karly yelled. Zack squirmed, trying to get Karly off him before she hurt him too badly. Dillon explained his chore to the boy who was about to take his morpher.

"Every morning, the black Ranger has to feed demon cat. And believe me, if she doesn't like you, she will eat your hand."

"I'll eat more than his hand," Karly threatened, dropping off Zack's back to look him in the eye. She was small, but she was already putting the fear of god in the four rival's hearts, "This kid made the stuff that poisoned my human. That chick gave it to her and Mr. Heartbreak broke her heart!"

"I'll feed the cat then," Alex shrugged, "She doesn't seem to hate me."

Karly pounced on Alex and bit his leg. She kept her grip on him by digging her claws into his leg. When she was finally pulled off by Samantha, Alex' leg was dripping in blood.

"Yeah, she doesn't hate you," Chloe laughed.

"I'll eat all of you if I have too," Karly growled.

"Well, off to bed," Chloe yawned. "We've all picked our morphers. Now we should rest up for our first day of rangering."

Chloe walked to the girls' bedroom and locked the door behind her, leaving all the girls to sleep on the floor. They exchanged looked, while Samantha mouthed _"What a bitch!"_

Alex played with the red morpher, while Zack stole the black one. They each went into the boy's bedroom and took a bed.

Nathan got up and walked over to Mike, "I should have won this one," he said, pulling the D-Green morpher from Mike's hand. "Now, I guess that just leaves Blue, Light Green and Gold on our team... they can sleep on the couches."

Nathan walked into the boys' room and slammed the door, locking it as well.

"They are total jerk-heads," Dani grumbled.

"Huge jerk heads," Samantha sighed.

"Yeah, but they know how to get Hayden back on her feet," Mike breathed. "Until they make a mistake, there's nothing we can do."

-----RPM-----

At the hospital, Hayden was reading the newspaper. There was nothing else to do inside these white walls.

She shed a tear at the front cover.

_RPM Switching Gears. New Rangers Hit the Scenes._

Beneath it was a picture from inside the Ranger base. Apparently there had been cameras watching the exchange.

She opened the paper and saw a column that made her laugh.

_Ranger Psycho Cat Should be Put Down, or Given a Kitty Morpher_.

Only Karly could earn the title of psycho cat and end up in the newspaper for it. She was like any other cat. Strong-willed and believe that humans were simply a tool for food. But she was very protective of her humans, and was ready to do anything to protect them, even eat a jerk's leg.

She read more articles about the RPM team and they just made her furious. Summer was giving her morpher to Chloe? Dillon had handed his to Zack? And Scott was okay with Alex having his?

On top of that, her sister was being called Ranger Monkey? Hayden wouldn't stand for any of this, and seeing as she was the only one willing to stand up to the rivals, she was going to bust out and find them.

But first she needed to find some decent clothes.

-----RPM-----

It was early the following morning, and Samantha was already hard at work making brunch for the jerk-Rangers. She had been woken up by Karly, who had been kicked awake by Alex, and told that the Rangers needed a full breakfast to get them through the day.

"Stupid Rangers," Samantha growled, spitting in the eggs before dumping them in the pan. "I think I'll make these eggs loogie-side up."

While the eggs cooked, she checked on the bacon.

"Burned to a crisp," she smiled. "Just the way I like them."

She put the bacon on a plate, ready to serve.

"Now the toast," she grinned. Samantha buttered it, thinking of what she could do to the toast.

She carried the tray of toast over to the table before tripping. She caught herself, but the toast fell right into the garbage.

"Shit!" she frowned, before a smirk came to her face. She picked up the toast and scraped off the coffee grounds. "That'll work."

She set all the food on the table, then looked to the skies. "I know I'm not supposed to use Angel powers, but they tried to kill my sister. Please don't hurt me!"

She winced as the food glowed pink. Then, it cleaned itself off, or at least, made it look like it did.

In reality, the loogie, the burnt bacon and the coffee grounds were still there. No one could see it though.

"I smell bacon!" Alex grinned, hopping over to his seat and grabbing a handful of bacon.

Dani was awake with the others as well. She reached for a piece of toast, but Sam grabbed her hand.

"I think you should make your own toast," she said. Dani frowned.

"Why?"

Sam pulled her cousin to the garbage, showing her what was inside, before pointing to the toast. Dani held back a laugh and nodded.

"I'll get my own toast," she grinned.

-----RPM-----

Not far from the Ranger base, Hayden was struggling to keep going. With every step she took, her vision blurred. She was finding it hard as hell to keep going, but she was going to make it, no matter what.

She finally reached the side wall of the garage and leaned against it. That's when she saw something hiding in the bushes. She waited for her vision to return, before picking it up.

"Zwop?" she frowned. It was her pink bear she had gotten when she was just a little girl. Someone must have thrown it out the window.

She hugged it close and kept it with her as she turned into the base.

The doors were open, allowing her access inside. She stayed behind the cars so no one could see her, and tried to look around for something to help her.

She saw Karly dragging a small device with a red button and frowned. She whispered for Karly to come.

"Karls," she called, keeping her voice low. "Here, kitty."

Karly heard her human's voice and looked around. She spotted Hayden hiding behind Scott's car and smiled. Without attracting attention from anyone, she pushed the remote over to Hayden and jumped into her human's arms.

"Hayden! What are you doing here?" Karly asked, nestling into her human's arms. Hayden smiled, kissing her cat's head.

"I can't let the team give themselves up to those jerks," Hayden explained. "There's no way."

"But human, you'll die if they don't follow the jerks' every word. I don't want you to die."

"I'm not going to die," Hayden assured her cat, giving her a tight, loving squeeze.

From his seat, Nathan could hear whispering. Years as a ninja, followed by years in hiding, planning on the death of the Power Rangers helped developed his hearing.

He got up, pretending he just needed to use the washroom. He walked around Scott's car and came up from behind. He grabbed Hayden by the back of the neck and pulled her up roughly.

"Hey, look at what we found!" he called. Hayden squirmed, trying to get out of his grasp, but all she managed to do was hurt herself further.

"Let her go," Samantha growled, stepping forward. Chloe held her hand up, stopping Samantha.

"Aw, boo... why is she here?" she asked. "Whatever, what do you think you can do?"

Karly jumped on the red button and hissed. Summer heard her and ran for both the cat and the remote, before Nathan could stomp his foot down.

Dillon saw his girlfriend was about to be stepped on and ran for Nathan. He tackled the younger boy to the ground, forcing his to drop Hayden.

Flynn ran forward, catching Hayden in his arms and pulling her up. He held her close, keeping her safe in his arms.

Alex wasn't happy. He looked over at Zack and Chloe and nodded. Chloe, the ice queen, summoned her ice ninja powers. Little shards of ice appeared in the air, aimed for Summer and Dillon. Both dropped below the attack. Summer accidentally let go of the remote, and Zack grabbed it.

"Think your little problem's going to go away just like that?" he asked.

"Well, we were kinda hoping," Ziggy started, but he was cut off when Zack lifted his hand with the remote in the air.

"Maybe you guys just need a push in the right direction," Zack grinned.

Karly tried to attack the boy, but he kicked her away. The small cat landed in a heap beside Samantha. She picked her up and held her close, still keeping an eye on Zack and the button.

"Don't do this, Zack," she tried, hoping she could somehow talk him down. "You're a good kid, I know you are."

"Pff," Zack scoffed, "Not good enough to earn the Ranger powers on my own. I've gotta work hard for them, and you guys aren't helping."

"We are the Power Rangers, you noob!" Dani frowned. "Of course we're not helping the guys who are trying to kill Hayden!"

"Correction," Nathan smiled, finally jumping up from the ground and grabbing the remote from Zack. "The guys who have killed Hayden."

Hayden was wide eyed as Nathan looked at her to say goodbye. He knew he had to do it fast, he still had some feelings for her, and the longer he was caught staring into her eyes, the harder it would be to push the button.

"Goodnight," he grinned. His finger inched closer and closer to the button, and for everyone in the room, time had slowed.

Flynn put Hayden down and tried to jump for the remote and the boy holding it, hoping that he could stop his girlfriend's death. He jumped on top of Nathan, struggling to get the remote out of his hand.

Nathan held the remote as far away from Flynn as possible and pressed the button.

Hayden grabbed her chest with her hands and dropped to her knees. She watched as her vision faded to black.

A white light appeared, as Hayden expected, but right in front of it was a light blue glow.

"Take my hand," the light said, "You'll be safe, I promise."

Hayden recognised the voice and smiled. She reached out to the light, choosing to follow it, instead of the white light of death.


	37. The Aunts

Hayden followed the blue light until it stopped. She looked at it curiously, before it laughed.

"You come this far, then decide to think twice?" the voice said in a soothing tone. Hayden couldn't help but laugh, stepping into the blue light.

When she did, she had to cover her eyes. She stepped into a world where the grass and trees were pink. She didn't know this place, for she had never been, but she knew she was safe.

"I couldn't let you die," the voice said, and Hayden finally knew who it was. She turned around and saw Engel smiling over at her. She jumped into her grandmother's arms and laughed.

"What did you do?" she asked. Engel put the small girl down, but held her close as she explained.

"I couldn't let you die," she repeated. "Not now. The world needs you, and so does your family."

"I'm... not dead?" Hayden frowned, poking herself to make sure she was real.

"Far from it," Engel smiled, pulling Hayden's hand away to stop the poking. She was overjoyed she managed to save the young girl, and pulled her in closer.

"Far from it?" Hayden asked. "But, before the button was pushed I was dying... do I still have the virus in me?"

Engel's arms started to droop away and she turned away from Kaylee's youngest daughter.

"You do, Hayden," she nodded. "But we can fix it... a little."

"Huh?"

"I'm taking you to your Aunt's," Engel smiled. "She's got the ability to see inside a person. She may be able to help."

"An Aunt?" Hayden asked as Engel bounced away happily. "Do you mean my Aunt? You have to be more specific, Engel, I've got a lot of Aunts!"

"Come with me, you'll see," Engel giggled. Hayden sighed and shrugged before following her grandmother. After all, where else was she going to go?

-----RPM-----

Back on earth, things weren't so happy and peaceful. Flynn was glaring at Nathan, ready to strike.

Mike wasn't a happy camper either. Had it not been for the shock of what just happened, both boys would have already killed the rivals.

Summer screamed and dropped to her knees, with Dillon dropping beside her and wrapping her in his arms.

Dani was cracking her knuckles as Greg held her back.

"Let me go," she told her boyfriend, but Greg held her tighter. Dani looked back at him, "My best friend just died. Either I hit somebody now, or I hit somebody later. Think wisely, smart guy."

Greg did think. If he kept Dani from hitting someone now, he would most likely be the person on the other end of her fists later, when he would be trying to comfort her.

Not wanting to be hit for something he didn't do, and figuring Nathan deserved a beating for what he had done to Hayden, Greg let go and Dani jumped.

"You mother fucking son of a bitch!" she yelled, her fists flying and connecting with Nathan's nose. There was a sickening crack before the blood started pouring out.

Scott and Ziggy grabbed her once the blood appeared and pulled her back. That's when Dani finally broke down, landing on her knees. Greg wrapped his arms around her and pulled her up. He held her tight as she sobbed.

Flynn had had enough. He grabbed Nathan's collar and lifted him off the ground. At this point, Nathan was scared and tired of being the one picked on, but there was nothing he could do. Flynn screamed as he threw the smaller boy across the room, making him land on Scott's car. The poor boy went through the windshield and landed in a heap on the two front seats.

Kaylee and Ronny stormed into the room after hearing all the commotion and saw the rivals and the Rangers (former in some cases). Ronny could hear Dani crying and looked around to figure out why.

Suddenly, she felt Kaylee grab onto her arm with such force, she thought it was going to be squeezed right off. The other woman then started to sway a bit. Ronny twisted her arm around, getting Kaylee to let go so she could help steady her friend. She looked over at Kaylee, worried.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Kaylee lower lip quivered insanely. She pointed to the lifeless body on the ground then broke down in tears. Ronny pulled Kaylee in close and held her, shifting so that Kaylee was looking away from the scene, and she was glaring at everyone else.

"What happened?" she growled.

Chloe shrugged, skipping back to the breakfast table to finish her meal. "Some kid died, I think."

Ronny's eyes widened and she glared at the girl.

"Some kid?" she asked. Chloe should have felt lucky. If Ronny hadn't been comforting Kaylee, she would have ripped the girl apart.

"Yeah, but you guys don't care about her," Chloe said. The other two boys were over by Scott's car, helping Nathan out. They nodded as well.

"Now that she's dead, we don't have to worry about taking your morphers! You're not holding anything over our heads!" Ziggy smiled. He went to reach for Chloe's RPM silver morpher, but she slapped his hand away.

"You're not taking this," she said. "I've earned it. It's bonded with my DNA and we're not switching back."

Ziggy pulled away, a little afraid of the rival girl.

Ronny smirked, "Fine, you four can keep your morphers," she said.

Everyone, including Kaylee, looked over at the racing champion with a confused look on their face.

"We'll do it this way. Who wants to be a Ranger," Ronny grinned. Just as she expected, all four rivals raised their hands. No one else did, however. Not even the Rangers who still had a morpher. "Alright, and who wants to quit."

Ronny smiled when she saw everyone, from Scott to Dani to Dr. K and the boom twins raised their hands.

Kaylee didn't though. Her position as leader of the RPM team and her high rank in the military prevented her from quitting, but Ronny was sure Kaylee wasn't about to mentor the new team.

"Alright then, seeing as there are no conflicts, old Rangers out, new Rangers in," Ronny said. "Unfortunately for you guys, I'm quitting as well. But I'll leave some details about what needs to be done before the Venjix attacks.

Dani smirked slightly. She knew what her mom was up to.

Ronny tossed Chloe a monkey wrench. It landed in her breakfast plate, causing her meal to splatter all over her.

"Scott's car, which would now be Alex' car needs a new windshield. The blue hummer's got three flats and the engine light comes on every day after three o'clock. You have to repair all those if you want to be able to travel. The Zords still need to be cleaned and worked on, just like they do every time after battle and now that you have a smaller team you guys are going to have to rewire the engines to work without a Ranger commander," Ronny started. She pulled out the blueprints to the Zords, which still baffled even the great Dr. K, and she gave them to Alex and Zack. "Oh, and you gotta wear this lame jumpsuit because oil does leak. And don't light any candles while wearing the jumpsuit or you might go boom! Any questions."

"Um..." the four rivals raised their hands.

"Never mind, you all killed my niece. I don't care," Ronny smirked. "Light a candle, watch what happens."

With that, she turned. The other Rangers followed, except Flynn. He was kneeling next to Hayden's body. He picked her up and held her in her arms.

Kaylee appeared in the doorway. She was hugging herself for comfort as she watched Flynn care for her dead daughter.

She didn't care about the tears on her cheeks. She let them fall. She lost her only daughter. She had failed. If being a mother meant protecting your children, then she had failed. Both her daughters were now dead.

Flynn walked over to her, offering to let her take Hayden, but she shook her head. She couldn't hold Hayden, at least, not right now. She didn't deserve to do so. She let her daughter down, she let Dustin down, and she let her family down.

"Kaylee...," Flynn started when he saw Kaylee refuse her daughter.

"I can't Flynn," Kaylee sobbed.

"She loved you," Flynn assured his mentor. He put Hayden down and pulled Kaylee into a comforting hug.

In the lab, where the others had gone to, Samantha buried her head in her hands. Curled up in the corner, she refused comfort from anyone. All she could do was cry for her sister.

Scott walked over to her and tried to get close, but Samantha pushed him away forcefully. Scott nearly tipped over, but he grabbed Samantha's hands, pulling himself up. She tried pushing him away again, screaming for him to let her go, but Scott was determined to help her. He finally got close enough for her to break down in his arms. He held her there and whispered.

"It's going to be okay. You'll see her again... she's in the Spirit world, right?"

"It's not the same!" Samantha sobbed. "She's dead! She didn't deserve this!"

"We'll get through this, okay?" Scott assured her. "Everything's going to work out for the best."

On the other end of the room, Summer was sitting on a chair by the desk, feeling as if she had failed. When she last spoke with Hayden, she had told the girl she would protect RPM and her.

Now RPM was gone, and Hayden was dead.

Dillon came over to her and lifted her onto his lap.

"I failed," she whispered, burying her head in his chest.

"You tried, Sunshine."

"I let her down!" Summer yelled. "I told her I would protect her and RPM, and now everything's gone!"

"Maybe not everything," Ronny smirked from her spot at the computers. She was working with Greg on something. Dani was sitting between them, as quiet as ever.

"What are..."

"... you doing?" the boom twins asked. Ronny smiled. She pushed a button, opening the communication lines with the city.

All through the dome, everyone could hear Ronny's message as she announced the death of the RPM Pink Ranger, at the hands of the new RPM team. People everywhere stood in shock.

"RPM killed their own team-mate?"

Naturally, when Hayden's family got the message, they couldn't believe it.

The Rangers frowned.

"Um, mom, what's that supposed to do?" Ronny asked. Mike phone started ringing, obviously his mom had heard the message and was calling to ask. Ronny smiled.

"Now the entire city hates RPM."

"We don't want them to hate RPM!" Dr. K frowned. "We need the city to love the Rangers and demand to have them back."

"We're not RPM anymore, remember?" Ronny smirked. "They hate the four new members of RPM."

"So, what's this going to do?" Dillon asked. Ronny flipped a switch, sending Colonel Truman, at the military base, a request to raise the shields.

"Just watch," Ronny smiled. "NewTech is about to learn you guys are one Ranger down."

"But mom, if you do that then Venjix will pick up on the transmission and he'll attack!"

"Exactly," Ronny smiled. Dani frowned, shaking her head.

"Why?"

"The new team can talk the talk, but let's see if they really do have the guts and courage to take on the Venjix army."

Ronny opened the communications in NewTech, alerting the citizens in the other city of Hayden's death.

-----RPM-----

Over in NewTech, Casey turned on the radio and the first thing he heard was Ronny's voice. When he picked up what she was saying, he gasped.

Hayden was dead.

He couldn't believe it. He knew first hand that the RPM team was strong, after all, before the switch, he was living in Corinth. Around the same time Ronny and her family moved from NewTech to Corinth, Casey moved his family from Corinth to NewTech.

Heather was now working with the new SPD team, which meant the move would allow him and Lily to see their daughter more often, and it was nice to live in NewTech. There was nothing wrong with Corinth, but NewTech was a slightly bigger city. There were more job opportunities, and more residents willing to sign up at the Pai Zhuq Academy that Casey had rebuilt.

He ran upstairs, where Lily was making the beds, like she did every morning.

"Did you hear the news?" he asked her.

Lily shook her head, "Casey, if you're telling me another monster is attacking the city..."

"Hayden's dead."

Lily stopped everything she was doing and turned to her husband.

"You mean the girl who can't die..."

"Died? Yeah... Ronny was on the radio, she said it herself."

"Ronny?" Lily asked. "She was on the radio? But she's in... she can't do that! If she did then Venjix would have heard and he would attack!"

Casey nodded. He didn't think of that, but now that Lily mentioned it the thought crossed his mind. Why would Ronny do that? She put the entire city of Corinth at risk of an attack, when they were down! Not to mention what would happen to NewTech once Morgana reported to Venjix about the family ties between the SPD team and the RPM team.

-----RPM-----

Dustin ran into the RPM garage, dreading the news. Of course he heard Ronny over the radio and on TV, but he wasn't about to believe it until he saw it with his own eyes.

He knew Hayden was sick, and he knew she was supposed to die sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to happen so fast.

The first people he saw were the rivals. He walked over to Alex, knowing he was the ring leader.

"If anything happened to my daughter I will rip you apart," he threatened, pushing the boy over before running into the lab.

He saw the former Rangers, all with glum looks on their faces. Especially Kaylee, Sammy and Flynn.

"Kayl Whale..." he called.

Kaylee stood up and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest.

"I'm sorry," she cried.

Dustin started to shake, but he held Kaylee tight. He waved Samantha over, knowing she was hurting just as much as he was. He pulled her into the hug, kissing the top of her head.

"How did it happen?" Dustin asked anybody who was ready to answer.

"That stupid heart-breaking, lying son of a bitch murdered her," Mike growled. His entire body was shaking in anger, especially after he told his mother about what happened. He heard her crying and it broke him. He was angry. Angry his cousin was dead and angry his family was hurt. "He killed her with that stupid button and the stupid Deathcode!"

"I hate that kid," was all Dustin said. He let go of his two girls and turned around, ready to walk back into the garage.

Ronny ran over to him, stepping in his way.

"Hopefully, Venjix is on his way. Let those kids scream for _your_ help before you rip them apart," she smirked.

"Can I let them die?" Dustin smirked.

"What kind of a ranger would you be if you let them die?" Ronny asked.

"A very pissed off father."

Ronny laughed and nodded, "True."

The alarms went off, but none of the rangers moved. Ronny could hear the four Rivals on the other side of the door excited to fight off their first attack-bot.

"C'mon, team, this is what we've been waiting for!"

Karly was sitting on the roof of Hayden's car. She watched the rivals run off and smirked.

"I hope you all die out there," she said.

-----RPM-----

"Where are we?" Hayden asked, appearing from the light into a city. Engel smiled, taking the young girl's hand.

"NewTech city."

"Weird," Hayden smiled. She looked around. Everything was so high tech. Hell; some of the humans... weren't humans.

"Huh?" she frowned.

"Don't asked, just follow."

Engel led Hayden to a house and knocked on the door. Hayden was looking around at the yard as they waited for an answer.

She had never been to NewTech, so this was amazing. As beautiful as Corinth city was, with its grass and trees and natural life, Hayden thought this robotic, highly developed city was amazing.

"This is odd," Engel frowned.

"No one home?" Hayden asked.

"No, there is someone home... I sense three Master spirits."

"Masters?" Hayden asked. "Is this Aunt Lily's house?"

"Yes," Engel nodded. "But it's not the tiger or the cheetah spirits I worry about. It's the cat."

"Huh?" Hayden frowned. "But, tigers and cheetahs are cats!"

"The housecat," Engel laughed, hugging her daughter.

The door finally opened and a man stood, looking confused as ever. Engel wore the same confused look.

"You aren't a cat, or a tiger, or a cheetah," she frowned. "This is not your home. What are you doing here?"

Hayden laughed, "Way to introduce yourself. Engel, this is my uncle Cam."

"But your Uncle Casey should be at the door," Engel frowned. "This is his house."

Cam finally realised who this woman was, answering a lot of the questions he had been asking in his head. He remembered her from all of Leanne's stories with the Jungle Fury team. She was master Engel.

And if she was Master Engel, it would make perfect sense that Hayden, the girl who had just been announced dead, was standing with her.

"Casey and Lily are inside with Leanne," he said, stepping aside to the let the two women in. "They couldn't come to the door so I answered it."

Cam led the women to the living room. As soon as the other three saw them, their jaws dropped.

Engel smiled, "Master Kit, I should have known you were the cat! What are you doing here?"

Leanne shook her head to recover from the shock. "Um... I heard Hayden was dead and... Lily and... we... um..."

"Oh," Hayden smiled, bouncing up and down. "Guess what, Aunt Leah! Guess what!"

Leanne laughed, "What?"

"I'm not dead!" Hayden giggled. "Surprise!"

Leanne laughed as Hayden hopped over to her. She hugged her niece, happy to see her, but she still had no idea what was going on. Thankfully, Lily spoke up.

"Huh?" she asked.

Obviously words weren't required to express her confusion and her need for an explanation.

Engel sat down with the group and smiled as she explained to them how she saved Hayden from death.

Casey nodded, understanding slightly. Lily wasn't really paying attention, she was more focused on trying to keep herself calm.

Over the years, her empathy had grown stronger, and she no longer needed to come in contact to sense how they were feeling. She simply needed to be in a close proximity. With her niece alive and well, everyone was overjoyed, and it was starting to get to her.

Leanne was paying close attention, trying to figure out what was going on. Cam was doing the same, but without experience in the Pai Zhuq and knowledge of the history, he was getting more and more confused as time went on.

When Engel finished, Leanne looked over to Hayden.

"Are you still sick?" she asked.

Hayden nodded sadly. "Yeah... but that's why I'm here. Eva thinks Aunt Lily might be able to help."

"Might be able to as well," Leanne smiled. She stood up and walked to her bag, which was sitting in the front hall. She came back into the room and dropped the bag. "Your sister asked me to analyse the water and she was right, it was what made you sick."

"Jackass ex-boyfriend and his family," Hayden grumbled.

"Once I figured that out, I was able to work on a cure," Leanne smirked. "I've come close, but never close enough."

"Why are you telling us this?" Hayden asked. "No offense, Aunt Leah, but if you can't help."

"I trust Engel's right about Lily being able to help," Leanne smiled. "And if she is, I've got something else that's going to help you in the future."

"Okay..." Hayden nodded.

"So, what does Lily have to do?" Casey asked for his wife. Engel smiled.

"The only reason the virus is affecting Hayden is because her regeneration ability is down," she said. "What I believe Lily can do is restart it from the inside."

"How?" Lily asked. "I read emotions. I don't reboot human beings and their superpowers!"

"Your powers have grown over the years," Engel continued, "I believe you can get inside Hayden's head and unblock her powers. Once you do that, her powers will fight against the virus. It may not destroy it, but it will isolate in into one part of her body."

"So, it'll remain inside Hayden, but it's not going to be able to hurt her?" Cam asked.

"Exactly," Engel nodded.

"Do you really think I can do that?" Lily asked.

"I believe in you," Engel nodded. "You must reach out to Hayden's spirit and wake it up. If you can do that, Hayden will heal on her own."

"Okay," Lily nodded. She got up from the couch and walked over to Hayden. "Open your mind."

"I'm generally an open-minded person," Hayden smirked. Lily laughed, shaking her head.

She touched Hayden's arm and grabbed her hands. Hayden could feel her presence inside her body and started squirming.

"This is awkward," she said.

"So, to pass the time, what do you have planned, Leah?" Casey asked.

"Well," Leanne smiled, holding up a needle, "when I realised I couldn't cure the virus, I started working on a what if project."

"A..." Hayden frowned. "Um... what?"

"There was nothing I could do to get the cure out of you, kid, but I figured there was something I could do to help you."

"Get the cure out of me," Hayden laughed. "but you can't do that."

"No, there's another way I hoped would work," Leanne smiled. "I was hoping to help empower your abilities. Maybe by doing that, they would overcome the virus stopping them from working, and flush it would of your system."

"Sweet!" Hayden cheered.

"But?" Cam asked.

"This but is a good one," Leanne grinned, "But now that Lily's working on your 'cure', I can help prevent this from happening again."

"You can?" Casey frowned.

"Once Lily gets your powers working again, I'll put this in your system and it'll power you up."

"Will I be able to beat Dillon in arm wrestling?" Hayden asked.

"No," Leanne frowned, "But you won't have to worry about breaking your arm. You'll recover faster and better. This means that viruses like the one you have inside you won't' have the time to infect you. Your body will flush them out."

Hayden jumped into her aunt's arms and smiled, "Have I told you you're my favourite?"

Leanne laughed, happy there was something she could do to help her niece. She kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tight.

"I won't tell Tori and Kira if you won't," she grinned.

Hayden pretended to lock her lips and throw away the keys. Cam laughed.

"What about the Aunt currently saving your ass?" he asked, pointing to Lily.

"A very close second," Hayden grinned.


	38. Identity Crisis

The former RPM team was gathered around the monitor, watching the rivals fight off the Grinders... or at least, try to.

"_Nothing's working! These guys keep multiplying!"_

"_Eww, one just exploded on me! I got guts and wires all over my new suit!"_

"_Shut-up, Chloe, and explode some more!"_

"_Umm, Kaylee, right now would be a good time to help!"_

Kaylee heard the call and leaned forward into the microphone. She didn't want to help them. She could still see the image in her head of her daughter, lying lifeless on the ground.

Samantha had left already with Hayden's body to bring it to the Spirit World where her sister could rest in peace. She had come across Master Guinn, but didn't see Engel or Hayden's spirit anywhere. She was sure to tell her parents of this when she got back and it seemed to worry Kaylee even more.

"Try again," Kaylee said, with no expression in her voice.

"_We are trying again, but these guys are tough!"_

"Oh, suck it up, those are nothing compared to the big bad attack-bots," Flynn grumbled over the microphone. He was happy to see the rivals getting their asses handed to them, especially in front of the entire city. What he didn't like, was how he wasn't the one beating on them.

Especially Nathan.

-----RPM-----

Back in NewTech, Hayden was starting to feel her Aunt pull out. She giggled and squirmed. The entire experience tickled her, but right now was even worse.

"God, you just can't sit still, can you?" Lily asked her niece when she was finally out. Hayden giggled and shook her head.

"Nope."

"Just like your mother," Engel laughed.

Hayden nodded, turning to Leanne so she could be injected with the serum that would power up her regeneration. She held her arm out, and Leanne took it.

"This might burn, squirt," she said. Hayden nodded, closing her eyes. Leanne pressed the tip of the needle on Hayden's skin then pushed it through. Hayden could feel as the serum went in and got to work.

"I feel stronger," she smirked. "There's no more icky feeling."

"That happens when you're no longer sick," Cam explained. He knew Hayden had never been sick before, so she wouldn't know how her body, or even a regular human body, would react once it was cured of disease or sickness. "Whatever Lily did must have worked."

"I can test it out when I get home. I'm sure Dr. K would love to analyse whatever Aunt Leah put inside me," Hayden grinned. Engel handed her her RPM jacket with a smile.

"Ready to go home and show the others you're not dead?" she asked.

Hayden frowned as she thought about it. If the others knew she was alive again, she wouldn't be able to get in close with the rivals. As much as she wanted to go home and see her parents and cousins, even Dr. K, she knew that if she wanted to take out the rivals, she had to get close. Hayden wasn't going to be the right person for that job.

The rivals hated her, which they had shown by killing her. If they saw she was back again, they would try harder to take the RPM team out. Hayden needed them to let their guard down and trust her.

"Aunt Leah, you're getting old, right?" Hayden smirked. Leanne glared at the young girl.

"I will kill you myself, Hayden," she warned.

"I mean... you're getting some grey hairs, right?" Hayden asked. She backed away slightly; after all, Leanne was deadly, especially when discussing her age.

"I'm not going to answer that," Leanne frowned.

"You would cover them up, right?"

Cam started laughing, causing Leanne to glare at him as well.

"I need a disguise," Hayden said. "I need to change the way a look, and I don't think Lily's hair dye is going to work."

Lily frowned; she didn't use hair dye... much.

"It would be better if I go back to Corinth as someone else. Someone who the jerk heads can trust," Hayden started.

"You want to dye your hair?" Leanne asked. Hayden nodded.

"Aunt Lily's blonde, though a little darker than mine, isn't going to hide who I am."

Leanne nodded, understanding the need for hair dye. She grabbed Hayden's hand and pulled her upstairs to the bathroom.

-----RPM-----

The rivals returned from their battle with Venjix, beaten and bruised. They walked into the garage and saw everyone was sitting on the couch.

Chloe snapped her fingers. Sammy turned to look at her, but didn't move.

"Ranger Monkey, get me a towel!" she called.

"Later, I'm too busy."

Chloe glared at Samantha, "How dare you defy me! Go get me a towel!"

Samantha stood up, making her way over to Chloe. She pushed her back and looked down at her.

"You got what you wanted. You're a Power Ranger and my sister is dead. I don't have to listen to you anymore."

Chloe huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked at Kaylee, hoping for some help from her mentor.

"I don't care," Kaylee shrugged, still with no emotion. Everyone knew she had been hurt deeply by her daughter's death, she was just masking it.

"You're a sucky mentor," Chloe frowned.

-----RPM-----

Hayden had everything she needed. She borrowed a suitcase from her Aunt Lily to stuff her RPM jacket in, and she had borrowed a few clothes from Heather. She would thank her cousin whenever she saw her again.

Now, she was in the tunnel connecting the two cities, trying to find a way to get close to the Ranger base.

Her hair had been darkened considerably by her Aunt's hair dye, and though it was supposed to be a dark red, like her aunt's, it had turned out brown, with a slight tint of red. Hayden didn't care though, as long as she was no longer blonde.

She stepped into the city, shielding her eyes from the artificial sun. The Ranger base was nearby, thankfully.

She hurried through the streets, keeping a low profile. All she had really changed was her air. If people saw her, they would definitely question her facial resemblance to Hayden. Obviously she and Hayden were the same people, but she didn't want the RPM team to figure it out.

When she did make it to the doors of the base, she had to find a way in. She was no longer a Ranger, that much was certain, and she couldn't unlock the doors without raising suspicion.

Thankfully, Karly stepped out of the garage, probably looking for an afternoon meal. The doors were open and Hayden snuck inside.

She heard Chloe complain about Kaylee's lack of mentoring and knew that was her way back in the team.

She stood up, revealing herself to her friends and family. Everyone noticed the scary resemblance between this brunette woman standing in the Ranger base, and the blonde pink Ranger who had just passed away.

"I could be your mentor," Hayden shrugged. "I've watched this team for a long time. I'm pretty sure I could find my way around this place."

"You're going to help us?" Alex laughed. "Who the hell are you anyways? What makes you qualified to work with the Rangers?"

"Who I am doesn't really matter," Hayden frowned. "And I'm just as qualified as the rest of you pathetic Rangers."

"We're not pathetic," Nathan grumbled.

Kaylee couldn't take her eyes off the teenager who had just appeared. She looked exactly like her daughter, aside from the hair.

"Hayden?" she asked weakly. Hayden looked over at her mother and shook her head.

"Sorry, I'm not your pink Ranger," she said.

"You look just like her, though," Dustin commented. "It's..."

"Scary?" Hayden finished for him. "I know, but believe me, I would rather be anyone but her."

Hayden could almost feel the disappointment radiating off her friends and family as she fooled them into thinking she wasn't herself.

"Why should we trust you?" Alex asked.

"You need a mentor don't you?" Hayden shrugged. "I don't see many people lining up to help you. The way I see it, your choices are me, or you go back to sucky mentor Kaylee."

Alex thought for a moment. He and the team needed someone back at the base to help them, and seeing as no one else was about to do their job, the teenager was the best thing available.

"When can you start?" he asked.

"Probably soon," Ronny spoke. "Venjix knows you guys are a loser team. He's probably got an attack-bot out in the city already, and you guys haven't noticed."

"What?" Nathan asked, running to the monitors. Just as Ronny had predicted, there was a monster in the city and the alarm had gone off, but it had been muted. It was most likely the former Rangers who had done it.

"You guys go," Hayden told the new team as she got settled in Dr. K's portable work station. "I'll stand here if you need help."

"When they need help," Dani smirked. "Bunch of losers."

Hayden let out a ghost of a smile at her cousin's comment, happy she was still her old self, even after the death.

With the rivals gone, the former Rangers tried again to figure out why this new mentor and Hayden looked so much alike. Flynn approached her, getting a good look at her face. Hayden looked up at him. She was very happy to see him, and at this moment wanted to jump in his arms and tell him he didn't have to worry about her anymore, but she knew she couldn't do that. If she wanted this plan to work, everyone had to act natural.

"Are you sure you're not Hayden, lass?" he asked.

"Sorry to disappoint you," Hayden frowned, "But I highly doubt Hayden, the girl who was killed by these guys, would offer to help get them going in their careers."

Flynn sighed and nodded. He, like everyone else, decided it was best to leave this mysterious teenager to her work.

Mike however stayed behind. He saw this girl had come in with a suitcase and picked it up.

Hayden didn't notice, leaving Mike to snoop around. He at least wanted to know her name, especially if she was going to be working with the rejects. She must have had some kind of ID or badge or something if she was inside the city walls. Everyone did.

He unzipped the bag and found nothing but a pink jacket. He pulled it out slowly and began to recognise it.

It had the RPM logo, and the pink, lion number on the back. It was Hayden's jacket, and if this girl had it...

"Who the hell are you?" Mike asked, clutching the jacket close as he glared at Hayden. Hayden swirled around in her chair and looked at Mike. She spotted her jacket in his hand and knew she had some fast –talking to do.

"I told you, my name doesn't matter," she said.

"How the hell did you get this jacket?" Mike asked, showing the jacket to Hayden. "This is Hayden's jacket!"

"I found it!" Hayden frowned, hoping this excuse would work, but it made Mike furious. He stomped over to her.

"You found it? Where?" he asked. "Where the hell could you possibly find my cousin's jacket?"

Mike was glaring down at the small girl, who seemed to be pulling away in fear. He looked into her eyes, trying not to pull away. She told him she wasn't Hayden, but everything else was telling him she was.

"Who are you?" Mike yelled, tears burning in his eyes. Hayden could feel her own set of tears as well. She didn't want to watch Mike beat himself up, and verbally attack her.

"No one..."

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" Mike screamed. He pushed Hayden's chair back, causing it to fall over. Hayden smashed her head on the edge of the desk. There was no real injury, but it did force the tears out.

Now the teenager was on the ground, and Mike stood over her. She looked so small and helpless down there, and so much like his baby cousin.

"I want to know," Mike said, lowering his voice, but the danger was still there. Hayden couldn't take it anymore. She jumped up, wrapping herself in his arms and crying.

"You can't tell anyone," she whispered in his ear. "You can't."

Mike put his arms around her, but was still confused.

"Mikey... it's me. I am Hayden."

Mike really started to cry, squeezing Hayden. He knew it. He knew it had to be her. There was no way another human could look so much like her.

"You can't tell anyone. Not even my parents. They can't know until those rejects are gone!"

"Hayden, why?" Mike asked, pulling Hayden away to look at her. "Why are you doing this?"

"Getting close, and slitting their throats," Hayden said, "Just like they did to me."

"_Um, lady, we need the Zord things!"_ Alex called. Mike let Hayden get back to work.

"Zords are on their way," Hayden said, taking her seat and pressing a few buttons. "But it seems Dr. K hasn't reconfigured the Zords to work without operators. Standby for assistance."

"_Standby?_" Zack frowned. "_For assistance? Who is going to help us?"_

Hayden sat back in her chair, kicking her feet up to watch the battle. The Venjix attack-bot, which resembled a giant blender, brought its foot down close to the Rangers, almost squishing them.

"I'll find someone," Hayden grinned, reaching for a snack. "I'm working on it now."

She saw Dr. K had a bag of candy and dumped it out. Various colours fell on the desk before her.

"_Well hurry up!"_

"Don't rush me!" Hayden growled. She grabbed a yellow and black candy, putting them side by side, as if they were kissing. She grabbed a green on and threw it at the screen. "I've just sent some help your way guys, but it seems to be blocked off."

"_Blocked by what?" Chloe frowned._

"A computer screen," Hayden smirked. "I can't get these candies through."

"_Candies?"_ Nathan asked. _"Lady, we need real help!"_

"Operators, standby, I'm coming for assistance!"

"_You?"_

"Yeah, my candies don't like you guys very much."

Hayden raced out of the garage and turned down the street leading to downtown. She could see the giant monster terrorizing the city.

Just as she was about to take off, Mike caught up to her, grabbing her arm to keep her from leaving.

He put a morpher in her hand and smiled, "You sister kinda smashed it when you were in the hospital, but when you died Dr. K worked on fixing it. She said it was in case we ever needed a new operator, but it think it was a memory of you."

Hayden smiled, holding the morpher tight.

"It doesn't have an owner anymore, but I'm guessing you'll be the first to morph with it," Mike grinned. Hayden nodded and turned to leave. She stopped though when she heard Mike call her name.

He looked over at her with a smile, "Be careful, Hay."

She nodded and ran off towards the battle. Mike walked back inside. The rest of the team was oblivious to her return. They wanted nothing to do with the rivals and their battles, and didn't care much when Mike walked off.

As Hayden turned the last corner, the monster tried stepping down on the Rangers again. They all jumped out of the way, landing next to Hayden.

"There you are," they frowned, getting back to their feet.

"You guys seem to be in a lot of trouble," Hayden grinned. "Ranger business too much to handle?"

"Maybe a little," Alex admitted, "but we deserve these positions! Those Ranger rejects were useless."

"At least we got the job done," Hayden grinned. The four Rangers caught her slip up, which Hayden had done on purpose, and turned to her.

"We?" they asked.

Hayden smirked. She pulled out her morpher, "RPM, GET IN GEAR!"

"It can't be her," Nathan frowned as Hayden jumped into action. "Samantha said she reprogrammed it. It could be anyone!"

The others nodded. He was right. Anyone could have used the RPM pink morpher at this time, but her slip up kept ringing in their heads.

Hayden was playing around with the giant monster, waiting for a plan to come to mind. She needed the others to beg for help from the old team and admit they were in over their heads.

"Usually I feel like quitting mid-beating," Hayden said to herself, avoiding the foot of the monster as it stepped down. "Wait a minute, that's perfect! And it's not like I can get hurt! Thank the lord for my aunts... all... lot of them!"

Hayden jumped in front of her fellow Rangers as the blender-bot's arm started spinning. Of course, he wouldn't be a blender without sharp blades on his body, making the spinning arms much more dangerous.

"Down here you freak!" she called.

"Kid, what are you doing?" Zack frowned as the bot's hand came closer. Hayden grabbed her "team", pushing them into the attack. They got caught up in the blades as their suits were ripped up and destroyed

When they landed, they were back in their civilian clothes. Hayden walked over to them.

"Oops," she said. "Accidents happen."

The blender bot's foot was lifted once more and the Rangers tried to run, but they found they were too beaten up to get to their feet.

The blender-bot slowly lowered his foot, laughing as the Rangers struggled. Hayden powered down, walking away and whistling.

"Aren't you going to help us?" Chloe asked.

"But you guys are the mighty Rangers? I'm just pathetic."

"We need your help!" Alex frowned. "He's going to destroy us!"

Hayden grinned, bringing her morpher to her mouth. She could tell by the colours they were wearing that Flynn still had his morpher with him, as well as Ziggy.

"Hey, Flynn, these rejects just admitted to needing help. I think you should come down here?" Hayden smirked.

"_And why would I do that?"_ Flynn asked. He hated how much this girl sounded like Hayden.

Hayden looked at the Rangers, still struggling. The monster's foot wasn't too far off the ground anymore.

"Well, why should he help you?" she asked them.

"We need it!"

Hayden spoke into the morpher again, "They need it."

Flynn and the other Rangers knew it was their duty to protect everyone, even those Rangers, but without powers, they were vulnerable.

"_We can't do it without our powers," _Flynn sighed.

Nathan, Zack and Chloe all turned to Alex as the leader groaned.

"You're not getting your Ranger powers back!" he frowned.

Hayden shrugged, "Oh well then I guess no help for you."

"NO!" Nathan yelled, "Screw Alex, we'll do it, just help us!"

Hayden looked at the others and they nodded. Alex was the only one still refusing to give up. She walked over to him and knelt down beside him.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked.

Alex looked up. The foot was getting closer, and he was still in too much pain to save himself. It was obvious he wasn't going to get help unless he gave up what he thought he earned.

"You can get the morpher, and your team back," he said, defeated. Hayden grinned.

"Hey, blue boy, why don't you come help them out?" she smirked.

"_We're on our way."_

"Oh, and tell my mother I'll be home as soon as I finish off this attack bot," Hayden shut the communication line and looked up at the monster. "I love you so much more than any other monster. Sadly, you must die."

Hayden looked around, seeing the mass of debris that had fallen during the attack. A lot of rocks and boulders were piled in the streets, and it was exactly what she needed.

"Power of Earth!" she called. A yellow glow surrounded the rocks as they were lifted high into the air, over the monster's head. Hayden grinned, "Bye, bye monster!"

She dropped the rocks at once, smashing them down on the monster. He fell to the ground and exploded.

"That was easy," she smirked happily as the former Rangers made it to the scene.

While the other Rangers went to take their morphers from the rivals, Mike looked at Hayden and smiled. She nodded, allowing him to run over to her and hug her.

"Hayden, you did it!" he cheered.

The team looked over, hearing the name of the girl they thought they lost.

"Hayden?" Summer asked.

"I knew it was you!" Chloe shrieked. Hayden glared at her direction before throwing a rock at her.

"Hayden?" Flynn asked, approaching the girl who looked so much like his girlfriend. Hayden nodded, finally jumping into his arms. He held her in his embrace and kissed her passionately. When they broke for air, Flynn nearly broke into tears. "I thought you were gone."

"I can't die," Hayden laughed, "Always remember that."

The rejects got to their feet and growled.

"This didn't go as planned."

Hayden looked over at the others, "Um, before my scolding and reunion, can we lock these guys up? The ugly one is giving me the heebie-jeebies."

-----RPM-----

Now Dr. K was confused as every about love. Watching as Hayden locked up her ex-boyfriend and his family wasn't helping anything.

She approached Ronny, who had just finished talking to reporters about Hayden's resurrection.

"What's love?" the young girl asked. Ronny looked down with a huge smile on her face.

"Love is that feeling you get in your stomach when you think about a certain person. It's a feeling that bugs you so much, but you don't want to leave."

"What about the person? Can he be the most annoying person left on the planet, and still you find it hard to be without him?"

Ronny nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"No reason," Dr. K smirked. She looked over at Ziggy, who was bouncing around with the team. He was happy to be a Ranger once again, happy his team was back to the way it was supposed to be, and happy Hayden was alive, of course.

That smile on his face made Dr. K smile. That was really all she needed whenever she was having a bad day. Though Ziggy did drive her totally insane every waking moment, and even sometimes while she was asleep, his smile would always make things better.

"You like him," Ronny smirked, poking Dr. K in the ribs.

The young doctor's smile grew as she looked up at Ronny, "Yes, Ronny, I believe I do like him."

Ronny grinned, hugging her friend before running off with the others. She had a niece that needed a big welcome back to life squeeze.

-----RPM-----

Hayden stood in the garage, in front of all her friends and family. Scott just finished welcoming her back, giving her a tight hug and telling her to never die again.

Hayden wrapped herself in Flynn's arms once again. Of course, even if she had already had her welcome back hug, she needed another from him.

Suddenly, someone's hand smacked the back of her head.

"Ow," she frowned, rubbing her head and turning around to see who it was.

Summer stood behind her, hands crossed over her chest and a death glare pointed at the brunette.

"I really loath you right now, Hayden Victoria Brooks," Summer growled. Hayden giggled before putting on the cute puppy face that seemed to be genetic in the Hanson family.

The Ford family seemed to carry the genetics of falling for it every time. Summer's face softened when she saw the puppy look, and she opened her arms. Hayden accepted the hug and was almost buried in her cousin's arms.

"You scared the shit out of me," Summer whispered so only Hayden could hear her.

"I know... but it's not my fault! I died, but Eva saved me and I had to be cured, kinda, then I needed to stay in disguise for my plan to work... I would have told you, but you weren't sneaky!"

"Sorry!" Mike called from the couch. He had already had his reunion with his cousin; he decided to let the others have their turn.

Summer shook her head with a grin, before taking a strand of brown hair from Hayden's head.

"How long will this last?" she asked.

"Aunt Leanne refuses to grow old..." Hayden smirked. "So this is the permanent kind... I think we'll see the defeat of Venjix before my hair is back to normal."

"Want to dye it back?" Summer suggested. Hayden gasped, grabbing her head.

"No... I like the new doo!"

Summer laughed, playfully flicking Hayden in the nose before Ziggy came up from behind and tickled her sides. Hayden screamed joyfully, turning around.

"Boo," Ziggy smiled.

"AH!" Hayden laughed. Ziggy grinned, wrapping his arms around Hayden. He kissed her cheek, before she moved on.

Dani and Sam decided to do their hugs together and suddenly, almost knocking poor Hayden off her feet. The sixteen year old giggled, hugging her sister and cousin back.

"Wow, you would think I died or something," she joked.

Samantha frowned, punching her sister in the arm. Dani just laughed.

"You know," Dani smirked as Hayden rubbed her upper arm, "if you ever did die..."

"You two would be the firsts to kill me," Hayden finished for her cousin. "I know."

"At least I'm not the only red head!" Dani giggled.

"Aunt Leanne only had a dark red colour! I'm still sticking with brown!"

"Red!"

"Brown!"

"Red!"

Samantha pushed her sister away, "Engel, Guinn, can I send her back please?"

Hayden pretended to be hurt, before hugging her sister, "I'm sorry. I won't ever never forever annoy you again."

"Really?" Sam asked hopefully. Hayden poked the older girl in the forehead and grinned.

"No."

Hayden stepped away before her sister did kill her, and landed in front of Greg. She smirked up at him.

"I bet your big brain never thought this would happen," she said.

"I'm glad it did though," Greg smiled, hugging his friend, "Welcome back to the land of the living."

The hug was brief, but so was their friendship. Greg did however give the young girl a loving squeeze and kissed the top of her head.

Hayden looked around. She had done Scott, Flynn, Summer, Ziggy, Dani, Sam and Greg. Her parents were upstairs, giving her some time with her friends before they stole her away, and the boom-twins were planning a surprise for her and refused to see her until it was ready.

Dr. K was in her lab and had already welcomed Hayden back.

That left one person, and he was currently turning away and trying to run.

"STOP!" Hayden yelled as Dillon stopped in his tracks. His shoulders dropped as he turned around.

"I'm not the hugging type," Dillon said as Hayden bounced over to him.

"But Pickle, I just died! Can't you make an exception?"

"The only person in my arms is Sunshine," Dillon said.

Hayden pouted, "But I'm almost your sister! I mean, my mom's not your mom, but this is her garage and she's letting you live here. And she feeds you, and takes care of you, and does everything your mother would normally do. So that means that we're almost brother and sister."

"I'm not the hugging family member type," Dillon smirked. Hayden frowned.

"Please?"

"No."

"Not even once?"

"No."

"But I might never die again!"

"No."

"Pickles!"

"Princess, the answer is no."

"I'm stubborn," Hayden grinned. "This will go on for a loooooooog time. So it's either you hug me, or I follow you around like a puppy all day! C'mon, even Dr. K gave me a hug!"

"No!"

Hayden ignored him and dove into his arms. She knew he had a soft spot for more than just Summer. Dillon didn't move to return the gesture, until Summer cleared her throat. He looked as her, almost begging not to be forced into it, but she frowned.

He hated that frown.

"Fine," he said, quickly wrapping his arms around Hayden, then pushing her away. "Now I gotta wipe that hug off."

Hayden turned as Dillon walked away. She looked at her friends.

"I got something from him. That's more than any of you can say... except Summer."

Hayden skipped to the stairs, ready to see her parents.

Summer's mouth was slowly falling open at Hayden's statement.

"I got that from him... and I totally do count!" she pouted. Scott patted Summer's shoulder.

"Let her have her moment," he laughed.


	39. Daughter's Dream Mother's Nightmare

It had only been a few days since Hayden's return, and everyone was still really happy to have her back. Of course, the Brooks family refused to leave her side, and the other Rangers we always offering to help Hayden with anything she needed.

Dr. K had to upgrade Hayden's Ranger suit after hearing about her enhanced abilities. She had been spending the last few days cursing Leanne. Gem and Gemma were also inviting Hayden to help them with boom hour.

Ronny was starting to take the more reasonable mother role to Hayden, seeing as Kaylee was acting like and obsessed fan girl.

Dani didn't mind about her friend's craziness towards Hayden. She honestly didn't care about Dr. K's hard work, and she was fine with skipping out on a few boom hours. What was really starting to get under her skin was her mother.

Dani never forgot the reason she had run to Corinth. It was because she and her mother had gotten into a fight about Dani's chosen career. All her life, Dani had been looking forward to becoming a professional race car driver, just like her mother, and with her sixteenth birthday fast approaching, Dani had been speaking about getting her licenses.

When Ronny asked why she was so eager, Dani had been more than happy to tell her mother of her dream.

That was when the big battle began.

Dani didn't really know what it was about. All she knew was that she had not gotten her way and that her mother was being totally unreasonable. So Dani took off, hoping that if she left, it would change things.

Her birthday had been a few weeks ago, and Ronny had allowed her to get her license on that very day, but was still refusing to take her to the track for a few laps. When Dani asked her why, she said she was trying to protect her.

Dani just thought she wasn't being a good mother.

And that was why Dani was getting impatient with how her mother was treating Hayden. She was making meals for the pink Ranger, entertaining her when she got bored and was making sure Hayden was comfortable. She was being a good "mom" to Hayden by listening when the young girl needed to talk (her family wasn't the best option for that at the moment) and by offering her good advice.

And yet, that was something she hadn't done when Dani tried to tell her she wanted to race.

At first, Dani just thought her mother was stubborn and didn't know how to listen when someone's opinion was different than hers. Now Dani knew that she did have that ability, she just wasn't using it on Dani.

"_I just... I don't want you to get hurt."_

That's what her mother said every time Dani brought up the subject now. Getting hurt? Everything Dani did involved her getting hurt. Hell, this stool she was still on was very wobbly, and yet Ronny didn't seem to mind or care that it could collapse at any moment.

She grabbed her keys off the counter and moved towards her car, before Greg stepped in the way, putting himself between her and the car door.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"For a drive," Dani said, trying to push her way past her boyfriend. Greg laughed, grabbing her arm and twirling her away from the car.

"When I was five, the Soup asked me to research driving while emotional. The end results weren't always great."

"I'm not emotional," Dani argued, but a pointed look from Greg made her cave. "Alright, I'm a little pissed off, but I won't do anything stupid. You know I'm a responsible driver."

"You've had your license for a week," Greg laughed, "I don't know a lot about your driving habits."

"My uncles used to let me drive on their tracks," Dani smirked, "I've got years of experience."

"Alright, how about you drive me to my parent's house?" Greg suggested. "That way I can visit them, and I can make sure you don't kill yourself."

"What about Hayden?" Dani asked, "Aren't you going to spend time with the resurrected?"

Greg shrugged as he moved to the passenger side, "I think she needs a little break from all the people. And anyways, I'm still not very close with her anyways. With me gone, that leaves room for Mike or Summer or anyone else."

"She's getting a lot of attention from this," Dani laughed. Greg nodded in agreement.

"We all thought she died," he said, "I guess everyone's just trying to comfort themselves."

"Huh?"

"Trying to prove to themselves that she still is alive and well by staying close to her," Greg explained.

Dani started the car once hers and Greg's seat belts were on, and as she pulled out of the garage, she muttered something that Greg didn't understand.

"Now what?" he sighed.

"Nothing," Dani just seemed to wave it off. Greg knew her better than that though. She admits to being a little pissed off, then mutters and won't tell him.

"You can tell me," he smiled, "I might be able to help you get it off your chest."

"I love you, but this isn't something you can help with," Dani said. "It's an issue between me and my mom."

"Oh, this isn't good," Greg said, inhaling the air through his teeth. Dani glanced over at him for a moment, before looking back at the road.

"Why?" she asked.

"I know I just met you guys not too long ago and all, but I know you get your head-strong personality from your mother. If you two have issues, against each other, I can tell it's going to be a huge blow up!"

"She won't let me drive," Dani breathed. Greg playfully grabbed the handle sitting above the door and held on to his seat belt, bracing himself for an accident. Dani frowned, hitting him in the chest. "I mean as a career! She won't let me race."

"No!" Greg said, in a tone that implied he was mocking her. "Why wouldn't she allow you to do something to safe and hazard free!"

"She does it!" Dani argued.

"So she would know all the dangers."

"Then why doesn't she quit?" Dani frowned. "If it's so dangerous, why is she still doing it?"

"I don't know," Greg shrugged. "Try talking to her about it? I know how much racing means to you."

"I have tried, but she just tells me she doesn't want to have that conversation!"

Greg just shrugged. He didn't really know where to go from there. Fortunately Dani wasn't finished and continued her rant.

"And yet, now she's there mothering Hayden, letting her talk endlessly about whatever's bugging her, and she's listening!"

"Dan, Hayden's not making a life choice though," Greg laughed, "She's getting annoyed at the rest of us and needs to let it off her chest."

"Still... if my mom's ready to listen to Hayden, she should be more than ready to listen to me."

Dani pulled into the driveway of the Hartford Mansion, now owned by Mack and Rose, and stepped out with Greg. He walked right into the house and was greeted by his parents. Dani was right behind him and smiled their way.

Mack and Rose had always been very close to Dani, but ever since she started dating the son they had been missing for years, she felt a little awkward around them.

The first thing Mack noticed when he saw Dani was that she seemed upset about something. He could tell, because it was the same look Ronny gave him when he pretended to forget her birthday for the fourth year in a row (all four had been surprise parties). It also had a hint of Doc's angry face. Again, Mack had seen that face when he pretended to forget Ronny's birthday for a fourth year in a row.

"What's wrong kiddo?" he asked, giving her a small hug. Dani shrugged, trying to act normal for her Aunt and Uncle.

"Nothing."

Greg called her bluff, knowing it wasn't a bluff from the car ride.

"Oh, please Dani, you were singing like the choir in the car!" he said. He looked at his parents, "She's got mommy issues."

"Dad took her side too," Dani added. Rose laughed softly, wrapping her arm around the young girl and guiding her to the couch.

"Talk," she said, getting straight to the point. Dani pulled away, looking at her aunt as if she was insane. Rose saw this and laughed, "Your mom and I are best friends. Maybe I can help."

"And I know you," Greg smirked. "I can translate when you lose my parents."

"And I... can sit and shut up," Mack frowned.

"I want to drive," Dani started. "I've always loved it! You guys know that!"

Rose and Mack nodded. For Dani's eighth birthday, they got her a toy car so she could drive around in it. They knew of her love of anything with an engine and a steering wheel, and always pictured her racing just like her mother.

"My mom said I could have any career, except that one."

"Did you ask her why?" Rose asked. Dani shook her head.

"I tried, but she doesn't talk about it! She's always beating around the bush and telling me she wants me to do something safer! Compared to my job now, everything's safe!"

"Being a driver is a dangerous job," Mack stated. "I've seen some of your mother's races and I've seen some of the competition leaving the track on a stretcher!"

"Yeah," Dani nodded, "My dad's treated several drivers, and my Uncle's Matt's even been to the hospital for a concussion... but she won't even let me try and compromise with her. Everything's just no!"

"Ever think maybe she's scared?" Greg suggested. "I mean, I don't really know how this whole family thing works, but you are her only child, and her baby girl. I know that people do tend to stereotype girls as fragile. From the day their born until the day they die... maybe she's just scared something really, really bad is going to happen to you?"

"Like what?" Dani frowned, rolling her eyes.

"An accident?" Rose said, remembering what had happened to Ronny many years ago. She wasn't there to see it, but Ronny had told her what happened (to the best of her knowledge) and Lily had filled in the blanks with such detail, that Rose could picture herself in the stands.

"Aunt Rose, driving down the street can get you into an accident."

"Your mother never told you?" Rose asked, looking over at Mack. He shrugged, shaking his head, showing Rose he was clueless about how much Dani knew. He and Ronny were close, but not as close as she was with Rose.

"Told me what?" Dani asked, turning her gaze to Greg for a moment. The young genius could only shrug.

"When your mother was only seventeen, she was already sponsored and ready for a job as a professional race car driver," Rose said. "But... I don't think I should tell you."

"But mom's not going to talk to me about it," Dani frowned, disappointed Rose was backing out at the last minute.

"I know," Rose said, grabbing the phone. She dialled the number for NewTech city, then added the extension to reach the Rhode's residence. "You Aunt was there. She can tell you everything."

She handed the phone to the red head. Dani smiled when she heard Lily.

"Aunt Lil... what happened to my mom when she was seventeen?" Dani asked. "Why won't she let me race?"

-----RPM-----

_Lily watched in horror as a yellow car flipped over sliding across the track, hitting several other cars before it caught fire. The paramedics and fire fighters quickly ran to the scene, hoping to save the drivers that had gotten caught in the unfortunate pile-up._

_Lily jumped up from her seat and tried running down, joining Ronny's pit-crew._

"_Ronny!" Peter yelled into his headset, hoping to get an answer from the young driver. "Ronny, can you hear me? Ronny? RONNY!"_

_Lily ripped the headset off the older man and put it on her head. "Ron, its Lily, answer me!"_

_When Lily didn't get an answer, she ran out onto the track. Thankfully, her cheetah spirit kicked in and she avoided the cars that were coming to a stop out of respect for the injured drivers._

_Lily saw the firefighters pull out the last of the drivers before there was an explosion. She quickly looked around, hoping, praying that her sister was with the paramedics, but there were only men._

"_RONNY!" Lily called, foolishly running to the wreckage. One of the firemen caught her before she got too close and held her back._

"_Let me go!" Lily yelled, thrashing at the firemen with all her strength. "My sister's in there! LET. ME. GO!"_

"_Lily!" Jason yelled, coming to his little sister's side and pulling her back. "You can't help everyone... she's gone."_

"_She... she can't be..." Lily whispered, burying her head in her oldest brother's chest as she cried. "It's Christmas... mom and dad haven't seen her in a year... we were... I got her..."_

"_Franky!" another firemen called to the chief, who was beside Lily and Jason. "I got another one. She just barely made it out."_

_She... Ronny! Lily thought as she ran alongside the paramedics. She stood back so they could help the oldest Chilman girl, but was close enough to grab her hand. "Please don't die on me. I'm sorry I was mad when you left!"_

-----RPM-----

Dani's mouth hung open as she listened to her Aunt. She could tell it was a horrific experience, not just because her mom had been involved in an accident, but because Lily was on the verge of tears as she told her niece the story over the phone.

"What happened?" Dani asked. Greg could hear a hint of fear in her voice and sat down behind her, pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her.

"_Your mother was unconscious for six straight weeks,"_ Lily continued, still trying to choke back tears at the memory. _"When she finally woke up, she got an exam from the doctors, and received horrible news."_

"Which was?"

"_She was paralysed," _Lily said softly. Dani only heard the key word and gasped. _"Until she was twenty-one, she was in a hospital bed, unable to move from the waist down. It was until David, the man who your mother would later meet and marry, suggested rehab, that your mother got back up on her feet and checked out."_

"She was in the hospital that whole time?" Dani asked, a little surprised the doctors would keep a patient who was only paralysed. If she wasn't ill, there was no reason for her to remain in the hospital. She learned that from her father.

"_She was also sick a lot in those years," _Lily explained. _"She was infected from the metal cutting her skin, poisoned from the smoke and gas in the explosion and heavily medicated at time for the pain. The doctors assumed it was easier to monitor her if she was in the building."_

"But, she was cured, right?" Dani asked. "There's nothing to worry about?"

"_Aside from a plate in her back, your mother's perfectly healthy," _Lily said. _"But that's a big part of the reason she doesn't want you out on the track. She knows what can happen to new drivers, and even experienced ones. She doesn't want to have to relive that experience, not with her only daughter."_

Dani nodded, "Thanks Aunt Lily, love you."

"_I love you too, kiddo. Stay out of trouble and think before you act!"_

Dani laughed. Her Aunt always told her the same thing. Whether it was when ending a phone call, or right before bed.

She hung up the phone and looked at Mack and Rose.

"I still think she should have told me."

Mack smirked, "Your mother hates that memory more than Kaylee hates Blake. I don't think she could bring herself to tell it."

"You gonna talk to her?" Rose asked. Dani nodded.

"I might."

"Might?" Greg frowned. "Did that story scare you?"

"No," Dani shook her head and laughed, "But I know where she's coming from. I think I'll wait a few years, maybe train with my Uncles and cousins, before going pro. I don't want mom or dad to live through that."

"You're a smart kid, Dani," Rose smiled, pulling her niece in for a hug.

Dani laughed, "Can you tell that to my teachers? I think I failed math."

Rose frowned, "Oh, Dani, what are we going to do with you?"

"Homeschooling?" Dani asked hopefully. "I know you could do it, Aunt Rose. And you could give me awesome grades."

"How about I tutor you, Dan?" Greg laughed, getting up off the couch when he saw it was time to head home. Kaylee was making tuna sandwiches for dinner, and everyone had to be there to judge whether or not they were good (Greg was really thinking about burying Dillon for making Kaylee doubt her tuna skills).

Dani shrugged. She grabbed the keys and moved for the door, "That could work too."

Greg hugged his parents goodbye and Dani thanked them for their help. When she got into her car, she felt much better about her current "issue" with her mother. At least now she knew Ronny was trying to be a good mom, and the reason she wasn't listening to her, but would with Hayden, was because what Dani had to say was too painful because she meant so much more to her mother than anything else.

-----RPM-----

Dani pulled into the garage and Greg hopped out of the car, saying something about hiding in the lab with Dr. K to avoid tuna. Dani laughed and shook it off as she closed her car door.

Ronny walked over to her, cell phone in hand and a small smile on her face.

"I just got a call," she said. "Where have you been?"

"I drove Greg to his parents'," Dani answered. "Who phoned?"

"My sister. She told me you asked about the accident."

"She told you?" Dani sighed.

"She thought I should know," Ronny said, "But I guess you now understand why I don't want you to follow in my footsteps."

"I'm still planning on doing so mom," Dani smiled, stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets. "I'm not about to give up on that dream. But I think I'm going to give it a few years."

"You're not going to jump into it like I did?" Ronny asked.

Dani shook her head, "I don't want you to be scared when I do go out there. I want you to be happy for me."

"You know I always will, Nascar," Ronny said, hugging her daughter. Dani hugged her back, and both drivers were happy they reached an understanding. When Ronny pulled away, she looked down at her daughter, "Now, if I can ask, why racing?"

Dani simply shrugged, "I don't know... you do it, dad is interested in it, and I do look up to both of you. It seems to be something you both have in common."

"That's not the only reason you're going for it, is it?"

"I have a need for speed," Dani grinned. Ronny laughed, playfully shoving her daughter before running to the passenger side of the car.

"Well then Speedster, how about you take me to your Uncle Jordan's track and I'll give you a few pointers. Maybe you'll be able to beat your cousin next time you meet him."

"Oh please," Dani laughed, starting the engine. "I was born to kick Mitchel's ass at everything we compete against."

"As long as you're not cocky," Ronny teased, rolling her eyes. "I got into trouble for that."

"Another Ranger story?" Dani groaned. She was really starting to hate the fact that only one of her parents was a Ranger. She only heard stories from her mother's point of view, and they were always the same.

"It all started with a morning jog around the Hartford yard. Spencer was riding in his golf cart while the rest of the team, your uncle Ty wasn't there yet, ran. Everyone else was tired, but Mack and I..."


	40. Holidays

_Author's Note: I know it's a little early for Christmas chapters, but Dani's birthday is on December 14__th__, and seeing as it just happened, that meant Christmas was soon. So, to keep up with the in-story timeline, I hope you guys enjoy the next few chapters._

Christian was the first one awake at his house, as usual, so he sat on his bed and grabbed his morning toy. His morning toy was any toy Kaylee and Dustin decided to leave by his bed to entertain him when he woke up, so that he wouldn't run to get them out of bed.

As he reached for the toy he looked out the window and saw nothing but white. His eyes lit up as he bounced over to his window.

"Snow!" he smiled, pressing his hands and face against the icy cold glass.

Just like every year humanity had been trapped in the dome, it always snowed on the first day of holidays for the school kids. The one good thing about living in a dome, with a weather control system, was that the weather was so predictable and the weathermen were always right (except one weatherman on channel four. He had a strange tendency to mix up his forecasts. He was fired).

"I have to tell Mayden and Bummer!" Christian giggled.

-----RPM-----

"Summer, Summer, wake up," Hayden called, shaking her cousin desperately in hopes of waking her. She knew today was the first day of snow, and Christian was at that age where the first day of snow was like Christmas morning.

"Go away, Hay, its sleeping time," Summer said, pushing her cousin away without opening her eyes or even really moving.

"You don't get it!" Hayden whispered, "Snow!"

"You've seen it before, go back to sleep," Summer groaned. Hayden moved away from her cousins' bed and sat back on her own.

"Fine then," she pouted. "I'll let Christian wake you up then."

"He's got a morning toy," Summer said, rolling over.

Suddenly the door was forced open as the little two year old boy ran into his sisters' room. He bounced on the bed of the only sleeping girl and jumped all over.

"Bummer! Mayden! Snow! Look outside. It snowing!" Christian exclaimed. With every jump, Summer came closer and closer of falling off of the bed.

"Christian, stop it!" Summer barked, kicking Christian's feet out from under him to make him fall on the bed.

"SNOW!" Christian giggled, pointing to the window. "We make snowmen!"

"I tried to warn you," Hayden laughed, grabbing her brother and putting him down on the floor so he wouldn't disturb Summer anymore.

"Why didn't you go wake up mommy and daddy?" Summer asked the little boy, sitting up in her bed and stretching. Sleep was no longer going to be an option.

Christian shrugged, "Daddy grumpy and mommy put me back in bed."

"Well I'm grumpy. Hayden, bring him back to his own room," Summer groaned. Hayden tried to grab Christian to take him back to his room, but he bolted out the door. Summer look over at her cousin then shrugged, "That works too."

There was a sudden crash from the downstairs and Summer groaned loudly as she and Hayden went to go check up on it. They tip-toed downstairs even if they could hear Dustin and Kaylee getting up to figure out what had made the crash.

The two girls found Christian, in the coat closet, covered in everyone's snow suits and other articles.

"What are you doing?" Hayden asked, lifting snow pants off her little brother.

"Playing in snow," Christian smiled.

"But it's..." Summer looked around for a clock. She caught the time on the microwave and once again (Hayden was going to start keeping track) she groaned loudly, "Seven in the morning."

"Come on," Hayden chuckled, picking up her little brother and taking him to the kitchen, "Let's get breakfast."

"I'm coming," Kaylee called, wrapping her green housecoat over her pyjamas as she ran downstairs. She knew as soon as she saw the snow, that this was a special occasion and didn't mind getting up early. Even Dustin was excited about snow in the dome. He believed in getting up early for that special occasion, because dog owners had less time to walk their dogs between the snowfall and his waking, so there would be less yellow snow.

"Mom, have you ever had to fight evil in snow?" Hayden asked as her mother got the pancakes ready. Kaylee stopped to think about it for a moment.

"Not that I can remember," she laughed. "It never really snowed where I lived. A few centimetres every once in a while, but nothing like this."

"Think Venjix takes holidays?" Summer asked, setting the table while Hayden put the bib around her brother.

"That would be super cool!" Hayden cheered, "but that would be a no."

"What about Christmas?" Summer asked, "He may be evil, but Christmas isn't the time for evil deeds."

"I don't know," Hayden shrugged, "but just in case, I bought Tenaya a Santa Clause hat. I'm going to ask her to wear it for the next two weeks."

"Think she'll go for it?" Summer laughed.

"Can't hurt to try," Hayden grinned, "Oh, and I bought you one, and the boys one, and I got Dr. K one!"

Hayden ran to the closet and pulled out a box filled with little hats for the Ranger team. Summer chuckled, rolling her eyes at her younger cousin.

"I can't wait to see the look on everyone's faces."

-----RPM-----

"SANTA HATS!" Ziggy cried as he reached into the box and pulled out a light green hat, then put it on his head. "This is awesome!"

He grabbed another hat, it was white with a black 'K' on the front, and he put it on Dr. K's head. When she went to pull it off, Ziggy slapped her hand.

"It stays on until Christmas is over," he told her.

Dr. K rolled her eyes and tried again to take it off, but when she looked at Ziggy's happy face, she decided against it. She was still learning about love, and so far she knew love was selfless. If this hat made Ziggy happy, and it didn't do anything really to annoy her (aside from the ball at the end that kept coming around to hit her face), she didn't see the harm in wearing it.

Ziggy saw her change her mind and his smile widened.

"That's the spirit, Doc!"

Scott grabbed a red hat, then gave a pink one to Samantha. Flynn reached for the blue one, kissing Hayden on the cheek for the gift.

Summer was already wearing her yellow one, and Hayden seemed to take the opportunity to make fun of her seasonal name.

On the front of the hat it read, "Screw Summer, It's Christmas!"

"This is wrong on so many levels," she huffed, blowing the white ball away from her face.

Mike took his dark green hat, and wore it inside out so the ball wouldn't annoy him like with everyone else. As he did that, he kept laughing at Summer's hat.

Dani took her grey hat and put it on Greg's head, then grabbed the gold hat and stuck it on her own. When the others gave her funny looks, she just stuck her tongue out.

Hayden handed the G-Twins their hats. Both were white with two letters printed on the front.

"B-O?" Gem asked.

"O-M?" Gemma frowned, "What does..."

"... that mean?"

Hayden smirked, putting the hats on their hands then putting them side by side. Because they couldn't see the hats, she read it out for them.

"B-O-O-M," she said.

"Oh!" the twins smiled, bouncing happily. "BOOM!"

Hayden chuckled before running over to her hat. She pulled out a yellow hat and handed it to her.

"I made this one just for you," she said.

Ronny took the hat and put it on her head and just like everyone else; she was attacked by the fluffy white ball at the end. Except this time, when the ball hit her, everyone heard a car honking.

"Awesome!" Ronny smiled.

"Why didn't I get one like that?" Dani asked.

"You're not even wearing your hat," Hayden laughed. Dani realised she was right, and grabbed the ball on Greg's hat. She let it go, allowing it to hit him in the face, and she heard the same honking noise.

"Ohh," she grinned.

"Oh no," Greg groaned.

Kaylee was already wearing her hat, which had Zwop written on the front, but there was still only one hat left in the box. Hayden frowned as soon as she saw the colour.

"Dillon," she said, turning around.

"What part of my attitude do you not get?" Dillon asked as Hayden grabbed the hat and tried to put it on his head.

"I get it," Hayden nodded, "I just thought you would support this festive holiday by wearing a hat."

"It's not my thing."

"But it's black! You like black! I had to get it specially made 'cause they don't ever come in black!"

"I would rather not wear it," Dillon frowned.

"Neither would I!" Summer called. Hayden hushed her cousin and looked back at Dillon.

"Please! I'll let you do what it says on Summer's hat!"

Kaylee and Ronny both cleared their throats loudly and shook their heads. Obviously they weren't going to allow that.

"Okay... how about... if you wear this hat, I'll... I'll..."

"Leave me alone for a week? Starting right now?"

Hayden thought about it and nodded. She put the hat on Dillon's head, and he threw it off.

"Hey..."

"Leave me alone," he smirked.

"But you have to wear the hat for that to happen."

"I did. You never specified how long."

Hayden's jaw dropped as she turned to Summer, hoping for some help. She just frowned, and pointed to her hat.

"Fine," Hayden crossed her arms. "But he will wear it."

-----RPM-----

"Jingle bells, Kira smells, Tori laid an egg. Ronny's car just popped a wheel and I got away! HEY!" Kaylee sang as she decorated the ginger bread house and ate more candies than what she was putting on.

"You popped a tire?" Ronny asked, stealing a jujube.

"It's just a Christmas carol," Kaylee assure her sister. "Kira doesn't really smell and Tori doesn't lay eggs. Hello, everyone knows dinosaurs lay eggs and water ninjas are smelly."

"Why not switch it around then?" Ronny suggest. Kaylee agreed and giggled.

"Jingle bells, Tori smells, Kira laid an egg. Ronny's car just popped a wheel and Blake will never get away! HEY!"

Kaylee looked over at the former yellow Ranger, "You know, I like this version better."

"Why does my tire still pop?" Ronny asked.

"It makes the song longer," Kaylee grinned. She put the last little candy on the house and bounced happily. "DONE!"

The alarm sounded all through the Ranger base, making Kaylee and Ronny groan.

"Villains don't know about holidays, do they?" Ronny asked.

"I don't know, but Hayden's about to give Tenaya a pretty hat!" Kaylee smirked as the Rangers ran out.

On the battle field, the Rangers were staring to regret morphing.

"At least we had jackets on when we weren't powered up," Mike growled, looking over at Scott.

"Wear the jacket on top," Hayden grinned, throwing her jacket on over the "nano fibre" then putting her hat on her helmet. The Rangers all followed suit, happy there was something they could do to keep out the cold.

"You Rangers look like tall, colourful elves," Tenaya laughed, appearing from around the corner with an attack bot that looked a lot like Santa Clause.

Scott laughed, "What happened to the usual household appliance attack-bots, T7?" he asked, "Or do you villains actually believe in Christmas?"

Tenaya looked over at the not-so-jolly attack bot, with a belly filled with robotic jelly and sighed, rubbing her temples.

"I honestly don't know why Venjix decided to go along with this pathetic human holiday."

"We're going to fight Santa?" Dani asked. "This is not how I pictured Christmas!"

"At least the fight will be easy," Ziggy stated. "How hard can it be to destroy a non-violent holiday figure who encourages good behaviour?"

The Santa-bot smirked, holding it's hand out as wrapping paper flew out like a laser and wrapped itself around Ziggy's legs. The L-Green Ranger tripped before he was slowly pulled towards the bot.

"Apparently very hard!" Ziggy called as the Rangers ran into the action to try and help him. Scott tried bringing his sabre down to cut the paper, but his weapon just bounced off.

"Huh?"he frowned.

"Wait a minute," Hayden smirked, pulling the red Ranger back and stopping the others from helping Ziggy. "What's the worst Santa and wrapping paper can do?"

The Santa bot wrapped Ziggy and made quick work of wrapping him up as a present. Ziggy was now trapped inside a box, decorated with Christmas wrapping paper.

Then, Santa called his sleigh and jumped off before shooting up in the sky. When he was high enough, he seemed to explode, destroying himself.

"It seems even an evil Santa likes to leave gifts and take off for a year," Mike laughed as Flynn and Dani went to unwrap Ziggy. They opened the box and he popped out with a bunch of toys.

"Look!" he giggled like a two year old, toys dropping out of his hands.

"Next time, Venjix really should let me create the attack bots," Tenaya sighed. She turned to leave, but Hayden ran over to her.

"T7, we have a gift for you," Hayden smiled. She offered the hat to Tenaya, who looked at it in disgust.

"Why should I take a gift from you Rangers?" Tenaya asked. Hayden put the hat on her head and smiled.

"It lights up," Hayden giggled, squeezing the white ball at the end of the hat. The hat lit up and something was spelt out across it.

"Venjix is a Tool."

Tenaya had to admit, she liked what the hat represented. She adjusted it on her head and walked away.

On the back, there were more words and when the Rangers read it, they all snickered.

"Venjix' Bitch."

"I think I'm starting to like this holiday," Dillon laughed, patting Hayden on the shoulder. She powered down and looked up at him.

"Does that mean you'll wear the hat?" she asked.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone?"

Hayden sighed.

"Next time, I go with fine print."

-----RPM-----

Gem and Gemma waited eagerly for the Rangers to return. They had seen the battle on the monitor and knew they were coming home with toys.

As soon as Ziggy stepped into the garage, they attacked him, taking all the toys and running off. Ziggy's smile dropped, knowing his new toys were now going to be victims of the twins' two hour boom time Christmas special.

"Aw, it's okay, Ziggy," Flynn laughed, patting his green friend on the back, "We still have presents to open."

"Presents?" Dani beamed, bouncing up and down excitedly. "Presents? When? Where?"

"C'mon, guys," Ronny called from the couch area, where in the Ranger's absence a tree had been set up. Underneath it were presents of all colours, just waiting to be opened. "Kaylee and I got one for each of you, and we're letting you open then a few days early."

The Rangers were smiling happily as they took a seat on the couches or floor, and watched as the gifts were passed around.

"Open them one at a time," Kaylee said, handing the last present, wrapped in shinning silver, to her niece of the same Ranger colour. "Scott, as leader, you can go first."

Scott couldn't hide his excitement as he ripped through the small package and pulled out a toy RPM red Ranger.

"It goes on your rear-view mirror in the car!" Kaylee smiled. "Now when people steal your car, Dillon, they'll know whose car they stole, Dillon."

"In other words I'll remember who to return the car too," Dillon chuckled.

Flynn was next. His present was wrapped in a bigger package, and when he shook it, it made a noise. He opened it up and found a toolbox.

"I kinda lost half your tools last week," Kaylee said, "So I bought you a new one. And it's ten times better than the old one because it's got a bunch of stuff that I don't know the name of, but the guy at the store said they were great for mechanics!"

Flynn smiled and thanked his mentors for the gift.

Hayden was next, and she could tell her gift was something squishy, because the package was squishy. When she opened it up, she saw a beautiful pink fairy teddy bear.

"Ooh," she beamed, hugging it and thanking her mother and Aunt.

Summer opened her, large package next and gasped.

"It's mom's guitar!" she said. Kaylee nodded.

"Your parents are coming over here for Christmas and want to hear you play something, so they gave it to me and Ronny to give to you as a gift from us," Kaylee explained. "Your gift was surprisingly cheap."

"I don't care, I love it!" Summer smiled, hugging her guitar like Hayden was hugging her bear.

Samantha wasn't a ranger, but her turn was inserted here. She opened her present and pulled out a beautiful lamp, with an angel figure at the base, holding a tiny cat.

"Self explanatory, Angel," Ronny laughed. Samantha smiled, setting the lamp on the table so it wouldn't break.

Mike was next, and his present was squishy as well. He loved teddies as much as the next guy, but he was hoping for something a little more..."

"My own jersey?" he gasped, holding the shirt up and reading the back, where his first name was printed at the top, and his Ranger number and logo were just below it.

"A motocross jersey," Ronny added. "Now when you, your dad and your brother race, we can tell which Bradley is you."

Dillon was next, and his box was the smallest. He opened it and pulled out a squishy yellow ball.

"We didn't know what to get you, so we got a human swatter," Kaylee explained. "It's like a fly swatter, but it's safe for use on humans."

"How does it work exactly?" Dillon asked.

Mike took the ball and threw it at Summer's head, "When people annoy you, you throw it at them until they go away."

The ball landed back in Mike's hands, and he threw it at Summer again. She growled, moving off the couch to take a seat on the floor, away from Mike.

"Works perfectly!" Mike smirked, handing the ball back.

Dillon grinned, throwing the ball at Ziggy's head. It came right back to him. "It's perfect!" he smiled.

Ziggy was next, and he tore his present open, only to pull out a sock.

"Um..." he frowned, until Kaylee turned the sock over. The area where the toes went had eyes and hair, creating a sock puppet.

"Now you can do shadow puppets even when there is no light... it'll just be a puppet!"

"Ooh," Ziggy smiled, making the puppet bit his nose. He pulled the puppet away and pretended to scold it.

Greg was next. Before he opened his gift, Ronny and Kaylee had to explain.

"You were hard," Ronny said. "Kaylee and I were wondering what to get the child who has figured everything in the world out. So we got you that."

Greg opened his present and pulled out a toy. Right in the center, it read Bop It.

"What is this?" he asked.

"A Bop It," Kaylee grinned, "Try to figure this toy out."

Greg smacked the center with his hand as a beat started to play. Suddenly an electronic voice started yelling out orders.

"_Bop it. Twist it. Flick it. Pull it. Bop it. Pull it. Spin it."_

Greg was struggling to keep up with the commands, and every time he did as he was told, the beat seemed to get faster. Not too long after the speed really started going, he was out.

"What?" he frowned, "No, I hit it!"

Dani laughed at her boyfriend before opening her box. She pulled out a little toy car.

"Vroom!" she squealed, already driving it around the base like she was in a race.

"Easiest one yet," Kaylee laughed.

"Moving on to Dr. K," Ronny grinned. She and Kaylee hadn't bothered wrapping it for her. They simply set the book down in her lap. Dr. K read the title.

"Socialising for Geniuses?" she asked.

"It's a book for dummies, for smart people!" Ronny exclaimed. At first Dr. K was slightly offended, but when she realised Kaylee and Ronny didn't really mean anything by it, she couldn't help but realise just how funny the gift was.

She cracked a smile and thanked the two for their gift.

"Now, boom twins," Kaylee said, hiding something behind her back. "We knew whatever we got you would just be blown up before Christmas was even here. So we got you something you wouldn't want to blow up.

Kaylee pulled the present out from behind her back and everyone started laughing. It was a street sign that read "Danger".

"You can put it on the door to your boom lap during boom hour so we all know to stay away and leave you guys alone."

"Aw, thanks for the..."

"... present Kaylee and Ronny!" the twins smiled, taking the sign and running to their boom-lab.

"Alright, now guys, don't forget, on Christmas eve there will be a party at my house!" Kaylee called as the Rangers started to scatter. "Everyone must attend! And Summer, your parents are going to be there."

The Rangers waved it off, and Ronny looked over at Kaylee.

"Present giving, success!" she smiled as the two high-fived.


	41. Christmas Carol

A RANGER FAMILY CAROL

_Author's Note: Okay, this chapter, in no way shape or form, was written by me, as you can probably tell by the author's note. It was written by __PICKLZDADRUMMER. All credit in the reviews should go to him. The reason it's in here. It fits into the Christmas chapters just nicely._

_Enjoy._

A/N (from PICKLZDADRUMMER): I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story a select few of the characters belong to authoress Lily Hanson (thanks again for letting me use the characters) the rest belong to Disney and whoever else works on Power Rangers and the song mentioned (Jingle Bells) is public domain, but I did put my own variation at the end for those who want to sing it badly to mimic the effect of Conner And Dustin Doing It but the variation on the song is mine so please no reuse without asking me first. Thanks again and be sure to give me feedback!

"Why we're playing this game I don't know, but ready or not here I come" Hayden called her face buried in her arms as she leaned against a wall in her home.

It was December twenty-third and the brooks family had decided to hold a Christmas party. Despite x-measter being the more traditional holiday for Kaylee's family Christmas was more universal and even Venjix seemed to be staying fairly quiet for the time being.

xXx-A RANGER FAMILY CAROL-xXx

"I Do not see the point to this game" Dr. K whispered to Ziggy as they hid together in a closet.

"What? Did you never play hide and go seek when you were a kid?" He asked. The doctor just glared and waited for the boy to see his mistake.

"Oh right the whole alphabet soup thing yeah sorry slipped my mind again." The boy grinned sheepishly before Hayden swung the closet doors open.

"Found you!" she exclaimed before hopping away to find the others.

"Well that was stupid" Dr. K muttered as she plodded out of the closet behind Ziggy.

The three teens continued to comb the house's every nook and cranny for the rest of the kids who had joined the game. One by one each teen was found it was down to the boom twins Gem and Gemma and Flynn. Although the contest did not last long as the rest of the teens rounded the corner after coming down the stairs to search the main floor the twins burst out of the front hall closet.

"BOOM!" they yelled together.

"That was..."

"A super fun..."

"Game guys..."

"Who else is...?"

"Left to be found?" the twins asked trading words back and forth.

"Where the hell could he be?" Hayden questioned aloud. The other teens who had already been found just shrugged un-able to answer. "Good question Hay" summer spoke up first. "I mean, he's big as a dump truck it's not like he should be hard to find."

"I heard that!" A voice shouted with a thick Scottish accent from somewhere in the house.

"That sounded like it came from the living room" Mike announced pleased with his sense of hearing. "Way to zwopping go Sherlock" Sam, Hayden's older not really alive, but kind of sister; retorted to her younger cousin.

"C'mon let's get him!" The twins shouted before running off toward the voice Hayden close in trail. As they were running Samantha, Summer's twin accidentally tripped her into a CD case sitting in the living room causing it to fall over and all the discs to spill out.

"OUCH FUCK!!" Summer shouted in pain.

"HEY! Look at this" Hayden called to her siblings and friends, ignoring the pain Summer was in.

xXx-A RANGER FAMILY CAROL-xXx

"OUCH FUCK!!"

The parents who were all in the dining room had been alerted by the shout.

"Summer?" Kira called aloud recognizing the voice that had shouted from across the hall. The Parents all stood up and raced to the living room to see what had happened. What they were greeted by however was nothing like what they expected. Instead of seeing an injured and bloody Summer they found a room full of teens a broken CD case and the sound of a poor rendition of the classic Christmas carol jingle bells.

The kids were all laughing aloud at the horrible sounds emitting from the stereo which they had crowded around; a few of the adults stood around trying to absorb what they were hearing, while Dustin and Conner both quickly glanced at each other in fear then at their wives.

xXx-A RANGER FAMILY CAROL-xXx

"What is this? Wait better question, Who is this?" Hayden Spoke up, the first to be able to form a coherent sentence through their laughter.

"Yeah! Because they are in serious need of some singing lessons" Dillon quickly added.

"Hell; they're even worse than me." Scott pointed out as he began to sing along, not doing much better, but not quite as bad as the voices coming through the speakers.

"Ummmm......That..." Conner began sheepishly;

"Would be us." Dustin concluded as his cheeks began to turn red from embarrassment.

"WHAT!" The crowd shouted collectively aside from the two men and their wives whom they were now staring darts at. Sad puppy dog darts which somewhat dulled their effectiveness but darts no less.

"Yeah! Really!" Kaylee shouted bursting in as she pulled away from her husband's eyes. "Gather around everyone..." she continued before Dustin could stop her; "It's story time!" Dustin, Conner and Kira all sighed simultaneously aware that Kaylee telling a story could be just as bad as one of her rants; in fact one, often led to the other.

"One question first." Sam interrupted before her mother went on with the story, "Why is it labelled: Terrible songs, please do not listen?"

"Ah... Kaylee..." Kira sighed grabbing the bridge of her nose between her thumb and fore-finger.

"So that's what that CD is....hey wait a minute..." Dustin growled as his own stupidity dawned on him; "I thought you and Kira burned that disc?" he asked angrily.

"Yeah!" Conner agreed now staring angrier than ever at Kira.

"We were gonna" Kira mocked as she stuck her tongue out at her husband,

"But we decided it was too funny to get rid of." Kaylee finished for her friend mimicking the gesture towards her husband.

"GET ON WITH IT!" The crowd roared effectively shutting up the two shocked, saddened and angry husbands.

"Well it was a fine, sunny afternoon" Kaylee began; "well... actually it was around this time so it was pretty damn cold out and the sky was cloudy and it was night already so it couldn't be sunny outside but every story sounds better when you start it this way, unless of course you want to have a serious story then you might want something more dramatic but I guess this could work anyways if you want to surprise your audience but it doesn't really matter 'cause I'm sticking to my original opening cause it's nicer and more fun and less dark and creepy and like the closet and that's not fun to think about except for the part where Dustin saves me..."

"Kaylee..." Kira tried to interrupt.

"Oh and Ducky was there so that's okay to think about; I love my ducky except once, Kira put a hole in ducky and lost her Ducky privileges I was pretty mad at her for that but I eventually forgave her cause I was able to fix Ducky with some duct tape, wow isn't that ironic? I fixed Ducky with duct tape that's pretty funny..."

"KAYLEE!" Kira finally shouted, "Breathe and then get on with the damn story. Jesus H. Jerry Zwopping Christ!" she finished.

"sorry" Kaylee muttered, "Anyways where was I? Ah Yes! It was a fine, sunny afternoon..."

xXx-A RANGER FAMILY CAROL-xXx

"C'mon ladies, we're gonna be late." Conner spoke up jogging ahead of the group.

"Yeah, I don't want to miss the start of the movie!" Dustin joined catching up to his friend.

"Don't worry guys, the show doesn't start till' eight-thirty." Kira answered loudly so they could hear her.

"Whatever we still don't want the tickets to be sold out when we get there do we?" Conner returned rather quickly and intelligently considering his usual bumbling comebacks that always seemed to end up with his own foot in his mouth and Kira's foot up his ass.

"He makes a good point you know." Kaylee stated turning to her friend.

"Very true, something weird must be happening another space rock of some sort cause Conner is being smart." Kira returned.

"NOOOOOO!" Kaylee quickly answered, "Bad girly Kira!" Kira took a swing at the girl but missed as Kaylee dodged it by ducking just in time.

xXx-A RANGER FAMILY CAROL-xXx

"We had planned a night out before Christmas seeing as Conner needed to be at his parent's house on Christmas day." Kaylee continued her story.

"And you didn't invite aunty Tori?" Hayden asked. "That doesn't seem like you."

Quickly Kaylee shot a look over at Blake whom had been dragged along by his wife who was currently upstairs tucking in the younger children.

"Well..." she began;

"OH shit!" Dustin exclaimed under his breath Kira quickly understanding his fear. Conner however remained confused and stared at his friend and wife with a puzzled look on his face.

"Dude, Kaylee, Blake, Hatred, no mixee long unstoppable rant of doom, uno duo confusion? Any of this ringing bells man?" Dustin tried to explain.

"Oh Fuck you're right! Let's get the Zwoom out of here!"

"RUN!" the three friends echoed as they bolted from the room.

xXx-A RANGER FAMILY CAROL-xXx

Half an hour and a good rant later, the three returned to the room where the CD continued to play as Kaylee told the story of that night when the record had been recorded.

"So, anyways as I was saying..." she said still staring at Blake blaming him for interrupting her story; "We got in to the theatre and..."

xXx-A RANGER FAMILY CAROL-xXx

"What do you mean it's not playing here?" Conner asked unhappy to find out he could not get tickets to the movie.

"I mean that film is not being shown at this multiplex." The snot nosed clerk eagerly responded to the frustrated young man glad to have the bullet proof glass between them keeping anyone from taking a swing at him for his snide condescending comments.

Conner rejoined his girlfriend and their adjoining couple as they regrouped.

"That zwopping sucks." Kira pouted unhappy at the news as well. As the four young adults stood there contemplating their other options for double date activities; something dawned on the two boys that they hadn't realised before.

"Hey Con" Dustin addressed the other young man loudly;

"Yes Mr. Brooks?" a knowing grin painted across his face.

"Who was it that was supposed to go check the times for the movies tonight?" he asked teasingly,

"I believe it was the girl's job" Conner returned.

"And do you know what that means?" Dustin asked now smiling from ear to ear as well;

"IT'S NOT OUR FAULT!" The two boys shouted loudly and high fived in the air drawing the attention of many confused patrons of the movie theatre.

"yeah, yeah you win whoopdy zwoppin doo" Kaylee returned sarcastically earning a giggle from Kira.

"Well we may as well go back to our place." Kira sighed looking over at Kaylee.

"Okay but no using Conner's super speed to carry you home while we aren't looking so that we can Zwop there to find a sock hanging on the door!" Kaylee shuttered remembering their last Duo-Duo date.

"Fine we will try to have some self control this time." Conner giggled looking back on that fond memory.

The two couples walked home and as the girls continued to weigh in the options for activities the boys serenaded them with a chorus of "It's not our Fauuult!" in a mock signing tone.

xXx-A RANGER FAMILY CAROL-xXx

"And that's when it hit us!" Kaylee exclaimed happily as the crowd sat in closer hanging on her every word; Even the general had found a pillow and came up close to hear and Tori had returned from tucking in the little ones to comfort her husband after Kaylee's tirade over why he deserved to die.

"Please honey, I think they've heard enough" Dustin begged with faint hope that Kaylee might listen and cut the story short; but she just stuck her tongue out at him again and giggled as she continued the story.

xXx-A RANGER FAMILY CAROL-xXx

"Hey guys you know what would be a great idea?" Kira turned and asked the boys;

"what?" the boys responded in unison.

"Maybe, you two could help Kaylee and I record a Christmas album?"

"Really!?" the gentlemen responded again in unison.

"Yeah we can even let you press buttons" Kaylee teased them knowing that would please Dustin;

"Okay, but on one condition..." Dustin said.

"And what is that?" The girls asked.

"We get to sing!" the boys exclaimed together.

xXx-A RANGER FAMILY CAROL-xXx

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute..." Flynn interrupted; Hayden currently wrapped in his arms. "You guys weren't forced into this it was your idea?!" He exclaimed stunned.

"That's right" Kaylee gleefully answered.

"Wow that is weak dudes" Flynn continued;

"Hey I would watch my tongue if I were you." Dustin hissed back. "That is my daughter in your arms there pal."

"Right, shutting up now! Go on Kaylee" Flynn responded knowing it was time to quit.

xXx-A RANGER FAMILY CAROL-xXx

"Alright guys start whenever you're ready" Kira called to the boys through the microphone; no sooner had she given them the green light the boys began to sing.

"Holy Zwop!" Kaylee exclaimed; "They sound like dying cats caught in a turbine!"

"First off..." Kira began; "I had no idea you knew what a turbine was."

"I don't!" Kaylee interrupted.

"And two, you are soooo absolutely right! It's Horrible"

Despite all the mocking going on behind the booth the young men sang their hearts and possibly their appendixes by the sounds of it out. It was obvious no one had ever told the pair how bad they were at singing.

xXx-A RANGER FAMILY CAROL-xXx

"Now of course we tried to balance it out with some classic Kira Kaylee stuff and some decent saxophone work on Dustin's part but as you can see the end result was still pretty bad." Kira finished for her friend.

"Yeah that's why we've been hiding it for so long!" Kaylee added not wanting Kira to steal her thunder and end the story for her

"Well the turkey should be ready now." Dustin called above the crowd of people in his home. "So we can head to the kitchen for dinner"

And with that the family and guests piled in to the kitchen with a great story in their minds a warm feeling in their hearts and an awful tune playing in the background.

JINGLE BELLS

LOTHOR SMELLS

MESOGOG STEALS DINO EGGS

FLURIOUS CAN KISS MY REAR

AND MOLTOR WAS JUST LAME

THE BAD GUYS SUNK REAL LOW

AND TRIED TO TAKE OUR HOMES

BUT EVERYTHING WORKED OUT

THE RANGERS SAVED THE DAY!

NOW EVERYBODY KNOWS

THAT RANGERS JUST KICK ASS

AND WE WILL NEVER LEAVE

CUZ EVIL NEVER RESTS!

HEY!

JINGLE BELLS

LOTHOR SMELLS

MESOGOG STEALS DINO EGGS

FLURIOUS CAN KISS MY REAR

AND MOLTOR WAS JUST LAME

OH!

JINGLE BELLS

LOTHOR SMELLS

MESOGOG STEALS DINO EGGS

FLURIOUS CAN KISS MY REAR

AND MOLTOR IS JUST LAME

AND RANGERS ALWAYS SAVE THE DAY!


	42. Engel's Fate

Christmas in Corinth had gone over very smoothly. Everyone was very happy with the huge family reunion, the turkey dinner, the presents and the time off. After his Santa failure, even Venjix seemed to be taking a little vacation.

Sadly, up in the spirit world, there was no real Christmas. Sure there was dinner as a group, where all the Masters would actually create a table and sit together. Families would exchange a few presents, but there was no real celebration to it.

Engel did miss that about the human world. They were always ready to celebrate! Hell, they even celebrated working. Labour Day, was it?

"Or... did they celebrate not working?" Engel frowned, the title of the holiday confusing her still. "Whatever."

She decided it was best to take a walk before the humans celebrated the New Year. That was definitely not a holiday up here, because time didn't exist. Once you died, you remained at that age (unless of course you died before birth, or as a young child, then time aged you to an adult).

On her walk, Engel smiled as she watched families sitting together, just enjoying time (or lack of it really) together. Some families were large, with endless generations all coming together to spend the afterlife with the ones they loved. Some were smaller, but they were all still close.

Engel missed that as well. Of course, she still lived with her sister, Master Guinn, and her daughter, Kayleigh, but they had been together for so long that they were starting to grow apart.

When Samantha had come into the spirit world, she had given Engel a chance at a new family. And now even though it was for the best, she was gone to live with her family on earth.

Engel had been so lost in thought she didn't notice she was walking right into the dark forest.

The dark forest could go thousands of years without being mentioned by the Spirits roaming the spirit world. It was a dark place (obviously), that held the souls of all those who had gone against the Pai Zhuq and the Ninja Academies. All evil spirits, from Dai Shi to Lothor, were trapped in there.

There was a strict rule about the dark forest. None shall enter. Simple to understand, and very easy to follow. Engel wasn't always one to follow the rules, especially when it was her sister enforcing them, but this was one rule she couldn't go against.

Unfortunately, she didn't know she was stepping over the border line. All she could see was memories of her time on earth, ten thousand years ago, or even back with Kaylee and the Jungle Fury team.

Suddenly, she felt herself being picked up by some force and thrown into a tree. She slammed into it with her back, taking the breath right out of her for a few moments.

The evil force laughed as Engel felt something squeeze her throat and pin her against the tree.

"Let me go!" she managed to force out.

"I've waited years for this day!" the spirit chuckled. Engel's eyes widened as she recognised the disfigured voice and maniacal cackling.

"Dai Shi!" she said, before her throat was squeezed so tight, only a little bit of air could escape. Engel struggled as her feet were lifted off the ground.

"Finally, one of you pathetic Masters stumbled into my world. How nice of you to give yourself up to me. And right around Christmas time too."

Engel shook her head, squirming desperately in hopes of freeing herself. She knew she was close to the border. All she had to do was step across to the other side, and she would be safe.

But Dai Shi's grip prevented her from getting anywhere. As long as he held onto her, she wasn't getting out of here.

"Fortunately for you, I need you alive," Dai Shi said, dropping Engel. She collapsed to the ground, holding her throat with her hands. As soon as her body would allow her, she tried to run.

Dai Shi didn't like that as his spirit rammed itself into her, forcing her to fall over.

"Leave me alone!" Engel screamed desperately, hoping someone would be close enough to hear her screams and rescue her.

"The Great Master Engel reduced to begging for her life at my feet?" Dai Shi laughed. "Where's my camera?"

Engel crawled away. Anything to get out of this place would do. Dai Shi charged forward, grabbing her feet and pulling her back.

"Now, now, where are you going?" he asked. "My minions and I were about to watch a ceremony, and it wouldn't be the same without you."

"There's no way I'm acting as your vessel, Dai Shi," Engel hissed, kicking her legs as dark shadows appeared from the trees and the ground.

"When we're done with you, you won't have a choice," one of the dark figures laughed. He and another grabbed Engel's arms, with claws or nails (Engel had no idea which) digging into her skin and causing her to bleed heavily. Her feet were lifted off the ground as they both carried her to a stone table.

The other dark figures followed, chanting something, but Engel was too scared to pay close attention. She was struggling and screaming, begging to be let go and given another chance.

Dai Shi wasn't that kind. He had her thrown onto the table and strapped down. Engel pulled on the restraints. If there was any spirit stronger than herself, she was begging for them to help her out of this mess.

"This will only hurt," Dai Shi said to the scared Angel before he turned to look at his minions. He raised his hands in the air and Engel screamed as fire started burning around the table.

"Finally!" Dai Shi cried, "The world has already fallen to an evil much weaker than myself. Once I enter our dear Master Engel, nothing will stop me from making this planet my own!"

The crowd cheered while Dai Shi turned to Engel. He stepped through the flames and hopped up on the table.

"There's only so long you can live, Master Engel," he whispered in her ear as his hand hovered over her chest. Master Engel shivered at the thought of losing to him. When the thought became too much, she let out a sob. Dai Shi laugh, "And your time, is up."

"Please don't do this," Engel cried.

Dai Shi's hand landed roughly on her chest as Master Engel felt her spirit being ripped out.

Her leopard fought the power, knowing she was the last line of defence before Master Engel's inevitable death, but even she wasn't strong enough this time. The leopard was torn apart, alive, by Dai Shi's powers and stripped of its master. In the air, Engel watched as her leopard faded away.

Dai Shi ripped into Master Engel's soul, breaking her apart from the inside to weaken her. Engel screamed and started thrashing around, but her restraints held her in place, making her job much harder, and Dai Shi's so much easier.

"This is how you kill the Great Master Engel," he laughed, finally getting his way and taken over Engel's body.

-----RPM-----

"I don't know, Master, all your attack-bots seem to be... easy to destroy," Tenaya spoke to her Master with that knowing smirk that showed him she wasn't afraid.

Venjix had returned to his tube for now, finding it easier to regain strength than when he was in his body. The one red light turned at Tenaya and started blinking.

"I don't suppose you have a better idea, Tenaya seven?" he asked.

"Actually, why not allow me to come up with something?" Tenaya suggested. "I'm sure anything I make is better than self-destruct Santa Clause."

"There was only a slight glitch in his programming!" Crunch called defensively.

"And that glitch was its creator," Tenaya smirked.

"In all honesty, I think Tenaya's right," a figure smirked, hiding in the shadows.

"Who's there?" Crunch asked with a hint of fear in his voice as he ducked behind Tenaya. She rolled her eyes, pushing the over grown bag of bolts away.

The figure stepped out, surprising the group of machines. She was a woman, for starters, yet her standing here meant she had the courage of a thousand men. No one stood up to Venjix like she was doing.

She was also shorter than Tenaya, standing at maybe 5'3", with brown hair ending mid back.

"Some still call me Dai Shi," the girl smiled. "But now, I go by Engel."

"I know you," Tenaya spoke, "Your that old green Ranger's dead mother."

"I used to be," Engel grinned, "But recent events have turned me against the Rangers."

"How?" Venjix asked.

Engel beamed, stepping past Crunch and Tenaya, before placing her hands on Venjix. The holographic monitor appeared, showing the three villains what happened moments ago in the Dark Forest.

Venjix was impressed as the video disappeared and Engel stood before him, smiling.

"You hold a lot of power, Engel," he said. "So why have you come here?"

"Well, I know that you are trying to defeat the Rangers, and I would like to strike a deal with you."

"I'm listening," Venjix said.

"You stand back and allow me to destroy the Rangers. Then the world will be ours. What we do with it afterwards... well we'll worry about that when the time comes," Engel proposed. Venjix' light blinked slowly, showing he was in thought.

"What do you gain from this?" he asked.

"Satisfaction of destroying those who cursed me," Engel said. "And all you have to do is sit here. Train if you want to, plan to overthrow me. Because in this game of war, there will be no rules."

"So, you're saying you will do all the dirty work, and you expect nothing from us in return?"

"Simple, isn't it?" Engel smirked.

"I'll let you go, Engel, but I have yet to trust you completely. For now, Tenaya will accompany you on your missions. She will watch you and report back to me."

"So now I play messenger for you and this creep?" Tenaya frowned.

"You wanted an attack-bot to call your own. Think of this being as your monster, and make sure she doesn't fail."

"I was thinking more along the lines of I create an unstoppable monster that can wipe out the rest of the planet. I didn't mean I would pick some human off the streets and follow her around like some puppy!"

"Would you rather Crunch follow her?" Venjix asked.

"I'll do it," Tenaya sighed. "But I'm not happy about it."

-----RPM-----

Engel stepped up to the door of the RPM Ranger base with a grin on her face. She told Tenaya to hang back and out of sight while she worked her way inside the base.

With a small, devilish smirk, she glanced up at Tenaya, hiding in the shadows, before she placed her hand on the pad that would scan her DNA.

The doors swung open as the pad flashed green, and Engel stepped inside.

The Rangers were all asleep. The Christmas party must have worn them out and they didn't even bother make it to a soft bed. Half of them were comfortable on the couches, curled up with their boyfriend or girlfriend or a family member.

Others, like Ziggy, were passed out, with their butts in the air and their faces squished against the floor in a puddle of drool. Engel frowned in disgust.

In a way, Dai Shi was happy he had managed to kill of Engel. Though not all of her power could be harnessed with her dead, he didn't have that feeling of love or guilt like he had with Dustin. There was no spirit inside him begging to get out. It was just him, inside Engel's body.

He crept over, finding Dustin cradling Christian in his arms. He was leaning against the couch, while Kaylee and Hayden were cuddling together on that couch.

The sight of the close knit family almost made Engel throw up. As much as she wanted revenge on Dustin, he wasn't the target. Not at the moment.

Engel stepped over Dustin and Christian and found Samantha, sleeping in Scott's arms. She put a smile on her face as she gently shook the girl awake.

"Sammy, Angel," she called. Sammy stirred in Scott's arms and rubbed her eyes before seeing her mother smiling down at her. She was awake in second as she jumped into Engel's arms.

"Engel!" she smiled. Engel wrapped her arms around her daughter and held her close as Scott started to wake.

Suddenly, Samantha was crying out in pain as a dark force surrounded her body.

"Sam!" Scott yelled, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from her mother.

Samantha's cries woke the rest of the family and team. They all saw as she fell limp in Scott's arm.

"Engel?" Kaylee asked, making sure Hayden and Christian were safe as she slowly walked over to her mother. "What... what happened?"

"She did it!" Scott yelled, pulling Kaylee away. "Samantha hugged her, and now... look!"

Kaylee looked down at her daughter in Scott's arms and nodded. She knew he was right, but didn't want to believe it. Engel wouldn't do that to their daughter.

"Why?" she asked.

"Remember me?" Engel smirked, her voice deepening.

Dustin heard this and jumped up. He put Christian in his wife's arms and stood protectively in front of her.

"Dai Shi," he growled.

"Dustin, great to see you again," Dai Shi smiled. "I hope you don't mind. I borrowed your mother in-law."

"What did you do to her?" Dustin asked.

Kaylee held onto Dustin's arm as she hid behind him. Dustin made sure there was no way Dai Shi could get to her or his kids, before asking again.

"What did you do to Engel?"

"I killed her," Dai Shi, laughed.

"No... you didn't," Kaylee shook her head, again refusing to believe. "You can't kill her! She was already dead!"

"Third time's the charm," Dai Shi smiled. The Rangers noticed that as he spoke, his voice changed from the deformed one, to Engel's soft voice, "And there is no getting me back," Engel said.

"No," Kaylee felt the tears coming. Engel was the closest thing she had to a mother. She didn't want to believe her mother could be ripped away from her, like that.

"I'm not suffering though," Engel grinned, "Well, not anymore. I'm telling you guys, having your spirit, heart and soul ripped out of you is a total bitch!"

"NO!" Kaylee screamed, dropping to her knees. Christian didn't know what was going on, but his mother was scaring him. He started to cry as well.

Flynn took the young boy out of Kaylee's arms and gave him to Ronny.

"Get out of the base!" Scott yelled, keeping Samantha close as she started to come to. He had to protect his team and Engel's family, and the only way he could do that was to kick Engel out.

"Take this as a warning, Rangers. This is your final stand!" Engel called, turning to run, as Scott had ordered.

Outside, Engel stopped in front of a tree, and Tenaya jumped down.

"So, Angel, did you do what you had to?" she asked. Engel nodded.

"They know."

Engel started to walk away, but Tenaya stood in confusion.

"I thought you were going to keep a low profile and destroy them from the inside."

"Watching them squirm is so much more fun," Engel said. Tenaya couldn't help but agree as she ran to catch up to the fallen Angel.

"So what's next in your plan? I need something to tell Venjix."

Engel stopped and looked at the girl beside her.

"I leave them alone for a bit," she said.

Tenaya looked up, confused again.

"Why?" she asked. "They're hurting! Get them now, when they're weak!"

"Oh, dear child," Engel laughed, "I've been in this business for thousands of years. I know how humans work. Let them ponder this situation. Let them wait for me to return."

"Won't they come up with a plan?"

"Won't we?" Engel smirked. "Trust me, Tenaya, Seven, before the week is over. All of them will be dead."

_Author's Note: Slightly shorter than what I usually bring to the table, but I got out everything I needed in this chapter. As you can all tell, this next arc is going to be a little... dark._

_Give me your thoughts!_


	43. Calling All Angels

_Author's Note: (Pokelad I remembered lol) Alright guys, Pokelad and I have been discussing his idea for a fanfic using my character, Kaylee, and Dustin and Ronny (from this series) and he's posted the prologue. I've checked it out and it's pretty cool. It's a little A/U from this series, mainly because it's a Go-Onger fic, but it's totally worth reading._

_Anyways, after this chapter, you guys should totally check it out!_

* * *

As Engel walked out, Scott turned to his girlfriend. He tried to pull her in close, but she pulled away from him.

"Don't touch me," she said.

"I'm sure we can help her," Scott said, but Samantha just pushed her away.

Hayden lowered her head, shaking it.

"Dai Shi said... he..."

She looked up at her sister. She didn't hear Dai Shi come through. Samantha didn't know the mother who cared for her for nineteen years was gone, dead and never to return. She took her sister's hand in her, offering her comfort as she finished.

"Dai Shi said he killed her," she said. Samantha's knees buckled, but Hayden's caught her in a hug. She held her sister as she finished explaining, "I'm not an expert in spirits and everything... but from what Aunt Leah taught me... if Dai Shi did kill Eva, then there will be no... helping her."

Samantha pulled away from her sister, only slightly, and looked down in horror.

"Dai Shi... killed her?" she asked.

Hayden nodded, "That's what he said, Sammy."

"No," Samantha shook her head and backed away, obviously in a state of pain and denial. "No... he... but she's... she's the Great."

"I don't know how he did it, Sammy, but Engel wouldn't hurt you, and she did."

"I... I have to talk to Aunt Guinn," Samantha said. "She... she would..."

"Sammy, you're just going to hurt yourself," Scott said. He reached out to touch her, but she slapped his hand away.

"Go away!" she screamed.

"Sammy..."

"GO AWAY!" Samantha screamed, finally dropping to the ground. She slammed her hands on the floor as she cried. "I owe her everything! She can't be gone!"

Hayden ran to her sister's side and wrapped her arms around her.

"We all do, Sammy," she whispered so only Samantha could hear her. "Mom owes her. Dad owes her... everyone here does. You're not alone."

"She was my mother," Samantha sobbed. Hayden nodded. There was no denying that statement. Though Engel didn't carry Samantha, she had raised the young girl since her birth in the spirit world. She had given up nineteen years of her life and had dedicated them to loving and nurturing Samantha. In a way, Engel was more of a mother to Sam than Kaylee was.

"I know, Sammy... and we're going to help her. We can't save her, but we can stop her."

"Aunt Guinn," Samantha said. "She would know. She's the Master of Masters... she would know what to do."

"I'll go with you," Scott held his hands out for the girls to take.

"I want to go too," Hayden announced. She looked at Flynn and shook her head. She wanted him to come along with her, but at the same time, she didn't know if she wanted him to see her in such a state. Everything was going to change once they were in the spirit world.

He understood and nodded. After all, it was best if he stayed back. That way, if Hayden did come back, hurt, he would be able to listen.

He looked over at Scott and smiled, "Take care of them."

Scott nodded as Samantha created the portal to the Spirit World. As they disappeared, Summer pulled away from Dillon and wrapped her arms around Mike.

"You okay, Mikey?" she asked softly. Mike held Summer, resting his head on hers.

"I don't know," he said. Summer rubbed circles on his back to comfort him. She knew he was hurting just as much as his cousins. After all Engel was his mother as well.

-----RPM-----

Samantha, Hayden and Scott appeared in the spirit world, and Samantha knew right away where she was headed. She grabbed Hayden and Scott by the arm and pulled them through the forest of pink trees to a clearing.

The clearing was Master Guinn's "office" (for lack of a better word). As the Master of masters, she needed a place where people could go to find her, and she had claimed this clearing as her spot.

Master Guinn was in the middle of welcoming a new spirit when Samantha burst through. She saw the tears in her niece's eyes and immediately ran over.

"Aunt Guinn, something's wrong," Samantha said.

Master Guinn nodded, looking over at the new Spirit.

"I'm sorry to cut this short, but it's a family emergency. Master Rilla will be waiting just outside to assist you," she told him. The man nodded, still sobbing a little from his death, and he stepped back into the forest to find Master Rilla.

Guinn looked down at her niece, and saw Scott and Hayden nearby.

"Samantha, what happened?" she asked, "Are you okay?"

Samantha nodded, burying her head in her Aunt's chest. She knew Master Guinn, though strict and sometimes very cold, was also very caring and loving, especially when someone was hurting.

"Aunt Guinn, it's not me," Samantha said.

Guinn looked over at Scott and Hayden, "You two are okay, right?"

Hayden nodded and Scott spoke up.

"Master Engel attacked Sam a few moments ago," he started. "Then, she told us it was really Dai Shi and that Master Engel was dead."

Guinn's expression darkened. Scott was intimidated by the look. He would have stepped back, behind Hayden, but he knew he had to be strong. He wrapped an arm around her and held her close.

Master Guinn pulled Samantha away and looked down at her.

"I need you to assemble the Masters," she said. "In this world and on Earth. Assemble every last one of them, and come back to me."

"Aunt Guinn, what are you going to do?" Samantha asked.

"I don't know yet, but if your friend is right, we are all in grave danger."

"All the Masters?" Hayden asked. "Like, my aunts, uncles and my mom?"

"Every last one of them," Guinn nodded. "Now go. We don't have much time!"

Guinn turned, getting right to work while the teenagers decided who was going back to earth, and who was going to remain here to get the masters.

"I know my way around this place," Samantha said, "I'll get Master Rilla, Lope, Kayleigh and Mao. You guys work on the earth Masters."

"Scott, why don't you stay with Sam," Hayden suggested, already turning to go home. "I won't need much help down there."

"Are you sure?" Scott asked.

"All Masters go to Pai Zhuq," Hayden grinned, "I'll get them. I promise."

"Get them and call to me," Samantha told her sister. "I'll send you all back up at once."

"Got it!" Hayden nodded.

-----RPM-----

After telling Jarrod and Camille what happened with Master Engel, Hayden was being guided by them to the top of the Academy, where a large bell hung. When sounded, all masters would be brought to the temple. It was only to be used for emergencies, and everyone believe this counted as one.

"Think you can reach the bell?" Camille asked as Hayden stepped into the room and saw the large bell. The rope she needed to pull to ring it was almost as big as she was.

"That thing might kill me," Hayden gasped.

"It won't," Jarrod said, grabbing the bell. "We'll help you. C'mon Camille."

Hayden and Camille grabbed the rope and started pulling. The bell began swinging from side to side and ringing could be heard.

"That's enough," Camille said after a moment. "The masters should be waiting in the field."

Hayden took the lead, running as fast as she could to the field. When she got there, she saw Jarrod was right. All the Masters were assembled there.

Master Phant, Finn and Swoop were together, talking with Master Howl, RJ.

Master Kit and Master Chiit (Lily) had seen the tears in Master Lep's eyes and were by her side, asking her what had happened. Master Torh (Casey), Jag (Theo), and Master Rhin (Dom), where not too far away from the girls, also talking.

Jarrod, Master Leo, put his fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, catching their attention.

"You guys all know that the bell is only to be rung in emergencies, right?" he asked them. Every Master lined up to face him and nodded. "Good."

Camille (Master Leon), stepped up, "Dai Shi has escaped," she started. There was a loud gasp from the group and Camille could see Kaylee lower her head to hide the tears. "Not only has he escaped, but he's found a host, and this time, he's trying to keep himself from making the same mistake as last time."

"Who's the host?" Casey asked.

"Unfortunately, it's Master Engel," Hayden said. "Sammy and Scott are in the spirit world with the other Masters. Guinn wants all of you together so we can figure this out."

"Master Engel's strong, she'll figure this out," Phant spoke, hoping to lighten the mood a bit. Camille shook her head.

"Hayden has informed us that Master Engel is dead. Dai Shi managed to kill her and is now using her body as his own."

"He can't do that!" Dom shouted, arguing as if there was a villain rulebook.

"Unfortunately, he can," Camille sighed. "I know how powerful Dai Shi can be."

"Can we stop?" Kaylee asked. Everyone turned to her and saw she was shaking. Leanne wrapped her arms around her little sister and pulled her away slightly, as if hiding her from everyone would protect her from the pain.

"We'll talk more in the spirit world," Jarrod said. He turned to Hayden, "Do you know how to get up there?"

Hayden nodded. She looked up to the sky for a moment then closed her eyes. She called out to her sister, like she did when she prayed, and heard a voice.

"Let's go," she smiled to the Masters, and suddenly, they were all gone.

-----RPM-----

"Well, this is definitely..." Phant frowned as he, like all the others, picked himself off the ground and looked around at the Spirit world.

"Pink?" RJ asked.

"Welcome," Master Guinn said, helping a few of the Masters to their feet, but there was no smile on her face. Everyone knew she and Engel were sisters. This news would be hurting her just as much as Kaylee, Hayden and Samantha. "The other Masters are waiting in the clearing."

Camille leaned over, taking Jarrod's arm, "When I pictured my afterlife, I saw beautiful green meadows, colourful flowers, blue skies and... well... not all..."

"Pink?" Jarrod asked.

"Yeah," Camille nodded.

The Masters took a seat in the grass, sitting near their friends for comfort. Guinn stood in front, looking at everyone.

"I'm sure you've all heard..."

"Master Guinn, before you start, we just wanna apologise for your loss," Casey said. Guinn let a ghost of a smile appear on her lips and nodded in his direction, silently thanking him.

"Look, this is a very dangerous position to be in," Master Guinn announced. "In Engel's body, Dai Shi now holds a lot more power. We must fight."

"We can't!" Samantha argued. "I can't! That's my mother! And I'm sorry... mom, but Engel raised me. She took care of me. I can't hurt her."

Guinn looked down at Samantha, seeing the scared little girl. She tried to smile to help her, but the tone wouldn't allow it.

"Sammy... Engel is already gone. What you see is her body."

"No..." Samantha shook her head. Lily moved over and sat beside her niece, holding her close while trying to block out her emotions.

"Does this mean we have to stop her... or Dai Shi or whoever, at all costs?" Leanne asked. Guinn nodded. Leanne held Kaylee's hand and turned to the other Masters. "Then I'm in. Master Engel wouldn't want us to hurt her, but I know she would much rather be destroyed then let Dai Shi take over this world."

"Master Kit is right. As Masters ourselves, it is our duty to stop Dai Shi," Lope added.

"And as the Order of the Claw, it's our duty to protect the world from Dai Shi, even if it means destroying one of our own," Theo took a deep breath, hating the words coming out of his mouth. He, like everyone else present at the meeting, didn't want to hurt Engel, the choice wasn't easy, but it was obvious.

Master Guinn looked over at Samantha, "I'm sorry, child, we must."

"I can get through to her! She's my mother... I can't!"

"She's dead!" Guinn snapped. Nothing else was getting through her head. She had to be tough. "She's gone, Samantha. Engel, your mother, my sister, she's dead. She's not coming back!"

"Unless..." Leanne smirked, her brain flipping through the pages of an old Pai Zhuq book she read years ago. "You can't destroy life. That's why there is an after world. If Dai Shi did manage to kill Engel, then her spirit must be trapped somewhere."

"So she's still alive?" RJ asked. "That's not possible."

"No, I think Leanne might be right. Nothing can destroy life. It won't just... leave," Camille said. "Some believe in reincarnation."

"I think Engel is still out there," Leanne smiled, "Somewhere. She just... can't get back."

"See!" Samantha turned to her aunt. "I told you!"

"Child, the Engel you're facing, isn't your mother."

"I want her to be," Samantha whimpered, "I want my mom."

Kaylee rushed over to her daughter and pulled her in close. She knew Samantha meant Engel, and she knew there was no way she could compare to Engel when it came down to who was her mother, but that didn't mean Kaylee didn't feel for her.

"You're not alone, baby girl," Kaylee whispered. "And if Engel is out there, we're going to find her."

"You can't destroy her though," Leanne sighed as heads turned to her. Her mind was still flipping through the same book. "Dai Shi's got more than ten thousand years worth of power, as did Engel. Some of hers is gone, but that still makes a lot more power than any of us have... individually."

"What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"I'm just saying if we got up against Dai Shi or Engel or whoever that thing is, and we fight him... her... it alone, we're no better than an old sponge!"

"Together?" Swoop suggested.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I do have a life and important things to work on! SPD's not going to take care of itself while I'm away, and I'm sure you guys have prior-engagements."

"Nothing's more important than this," Rilla commented, and Leanne nodded.

"I know that, but we live in a two-city world," she said, "We don't have many places to hide until we can fight. We need one person to hold this power and to bring it to its full potential if we want to stand a chance against Dai Shi... Engel... whatever!"

"I think Master Kit is right," Guinn agreed. "There are many of us, and nowhere to hide. It would be easier if one person holds the power."

"Won't Dai Shi sense that person though and destroy them?" Casey asked. "And anyways, don't we want Dai Shi to find us so we can stop him?"

"We have very little time," Guinn stated. "Dai Shi will not rest until the earth is his. One person must take all our powers. They must be strong."

All eyes turned to Kaylee. Naturally, after years of Ranger experience, she was the best suited for this power. But Kaylee shook her head.

"No," she said. "I won't do it. I can't take this job when there's someone better out there."

Kaylee smiled at Samantha. The young girl pointed to herself and frowned.

"Me?"

"Like you said," Kaylee said, putting her hands on her daughter's arms and holding her, "Engel was your mother. She loved you, and cared for you, and was ready to do anything for you. Now it's your turn to help her. Put her out of her misery, protect her, and the rest of the world from Dai Shi. You're really the only one she would trust to do this."

"But mom... I can't..."

"Sweetheart, Engel is dead. I'm sorry to say this, but you need to understand. You have to do this, for yourself, for the world, for your team, and for your mother."

Samantha nodded, resting her head on her mother's chest. Kaylee kissed her, giving her her energy. The other Masters soon followed. Samantha felt strong, but weak.

"Mom?" she cried, looking up at Kaylee.

"This is the only way, Angel," Kaylee smiled. "I love you, as did Engel. No matter what happens."

"The Masters will all remain here for their protection," Guinn told the girl as Hayden and Scott came to her side. "We will not be able to help you anymore, but you should know what to do."

"Stop my mother," Samantha nodded, hugging her little sister. "At all costs."

"Believe in yourself," Guinn smiled. She kissed Samantha's forehead before letting her go. Samantha, Hayden and Scott all disappeared.

-----RPM-----

"You're hurting," Summer said, walking over to Mike with a mug of hot chocolate. She put little coloured marshmallows inside (only green and blue though), just the way he liked it. She handed it to him and sat down beside him. "Don't try and hid it. I've known you my whole life, and pretty much all of yours as well. I know what this face means."

She poked his cheek, making him smile a little bit.

"Thanks, Summer, but my grandmother just died. Hot chocolate's not going to fix it," Mike put his mug on the counter and returned to hi moping state. Summer rolled her eyes.

"But I put those marshmallows in it just to cheer you up!" she said, picking one out from her mug and putting it in her mouth. "They're yummy-tastic!"

"Where do you come from?" Mike asked, looking at her curiously. "Neither one of your parents would ever say yummy-tastic."

"Some people think I'm actually Aunt Lily's," Summer frowned, "I don't know why."

Mike looked over at Summer and chuckled, "Seriously? You look just like her. Cute little face, innocent smile."

"Are we looking at the same face?" Summer asked. "I don't look like her."

Mike shook her head before going back to his sad state. Summer needed to cheer him up.

"I think Aunt K raised me more than anyone knows," Summer grinned, taking another marshmallow. "I think she snuck into our houses at night and hypnotized us into think we're hers."

"It's possible," Mike laughed, nodding. Summer grinned happily. It was working, he was happy.

He then took a deep breath, and all traces of happiness were gone. Summer sighed.

"Look, Mike, I know this sucks, but..."

"But what, Summer?" Mike asked, slamming his fists on the counter. "The one person in my life who couldn't ever die just did!"

Summer wrapped herself in Mike's arms, allowing him to use her for comfort. She was hurting, yes, she loved Engel just as much as the others, but she wasn't related to the deceased master, not by blood. There wasn't that special connection between them. As painful as all this was for her, she knew there were others who were hurting much more. And she couldn't sit by and let them mope around.

"She's still with you, Michael. Her words, her love and the memories, those won't ever die. Though she's gone, she's immortal."

"I just want her back... I want everyone back! My grandparents, my little sister's sight, our world! Evil has taken everything from us, and it seems every time we move on, something else is thrown our way. I want a break."

"I do too," Summer nodded. "This is hard for me too. You're not alone."

"It feels like it," Mike sighed. Summer squeezed her cousin.

"I love you," she whispered. "I'm still here. No matter what, okay?"

"Love you too, kid," Mike smiled. She held Summer with one arm, while the other reached for a marshmallow in his hot chocolate. He popped it in his mouth, chewing it slowly to prolong the moment.


	44. Samantha's Miracle

Samantha, Scott and Hayden appeared in the garage, surrounded by their friends, waiting for news about Engel.

Samantha didn't want to talk. She pushed through Ziggy and Gem and ran to her room to hide from everyone. Scott watched her go. As much as he wanted to be with her and hold her through this difficult time, he knew she needed to be alone.

Hayden stepped forward to follow her, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Let her go," he whispered. Hayden nodded before she was pulled in by Flynn. He wrapped his arms around her.

"How are you holding up?" he asked.

"Better than Sammy," Hayden breathed, looking up at the bedroom door. She didn't want to see her sister hurting. She wanted to find a way to make it better. She wanted to be able to tell her sister that everything was going to be okay, and that this was just a nightmare.

But it wasn't.

Engel was dead. There was no denying it. Sure her spirit was still out there somewhere. But like everything else, there was only so long she could live before something happened.

"What did the Masters say?" Summer asked. She was holding Mike's hand through the whole thing, making him feel a little better, but there were still tears in his eyes, and his heart was heavy.

There was also a lump in his throat that refused to leave, no matter how much he swallowed.

"We have to destroy Engel," Hayden sighed, lowering her head to hide. Flynn held her tight.

"Destroy her? You mean, her body?" Mike asked. Hayden nodded.

"It's the only way we can stop Dai Shi."

"We can't do that!" Mike screamed, and Summer grabbed his arm, hoping to calm him down. Mike did seem to relax, but the pain in his eyes was evident.

"We're not going to," Scott said. "The Masters... they've given Sammy their power so she could destroy Dai Shi."

"Sam has to do it?" Dani asked. Scott nodded.

"Kaylee refused. She said Samantha was better for the job. I think she just didn't want to be the one..."

"I agree with my mom, though," Hayden said, interrupting Scott before he said something false about her mother. "Sammy is one of the strongest people I have ever met, and even if this will be hard for her, I really do think she's the only one who can hold all that power, and unleash when the time comes. The only thing that is holding her back is the fact that Engel is Samantha's real mother."

"I thought Kaylee was her real mom," Ziggy frowned. Hayden shook her head, sadly.

"My mom was pregnant with Samantha, yes, and loved her dearly, yes. As much as she wished she could be Samantha's mom, she's not."

"And why is that?" Dillon asked.

"Fate," Hayden breathed. "My mom never got the chance. Sammy was taken from her. Engel took over and became Samantha's mother. She took her in, raised her, sheltered her, taught her, nurtured her, played with her. She was there for all her firsts. She was a mom. My mom just... provided Samantha with DNA."

"Look, we'll throw Sam a pity party later. Right now we need to focus on what's important," Greg said. "I know this is hard on all of you, but this is our job. When we signed up for this, we agreed to fight against anything and anyone who threatened humanity. Be it a team-mate or an enemy. We can't mix up personal and professional."

"Greg's right," Flynn nodded, and everyone seemed to agree.

"We know that... but..." Hayden sighed, "Fighting Engel... to you guys, she's just an ally gone rogue. It's hard, but you know you have to do it. For Mike, Summer, Dani and me, it's destroying someone you love. For Sammy... it's murder."

"But we have to do it," Greg insisted.

"I don't know if I can," Samantha spoke softly, scaring the Ranger who until now believed she was still up in her room.

"I know you can," Scott smiled, reaching for his girlfriend. She didn't need the invite to run into his arms. She needed the comfort and she needed to feel some kind of love.

"It hurts," Samantha cried. "I miss her."

"I know you do," Scott nodded, stroking her hair gently to keep her from breaking. He was willing to do anything to help her feel better.

"I think you guys need a little help," Ronny smiled from the doorway, where she had been listening all along.

"But Master Guinn gave the power to Samantha, only she can..."

"Have you guys ever heard of a team up?" Ronny laughed, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah," Hayden laughed, "It was called 'Old People in Span... Nano Fibre'."

"Not old," Ronny said defensively, playfully glaring at her niece. "But I mean a real team up. Not a bunch of wannabes in nano fibre."

"Real?" Flynn asked. "Last time wasn't real?"

"Did you not hear our team name?" Ronny chuckled. "Makeshift! We were a sad excuse for a team up! You guys need help from the past."

"Time Travel!" Gem and Gemma cheered, throwing their hands in the air and jumping excitedly.

"Uh... no..." Ronny frowned, killing their excitement. "I was thinking more along the lines of phoning my sister and asking her to assemble the Jungle Fury team..."

"But Aunt Lily's and Uncle Casey are in the Spirit world," Hayden frowned.

"They have bars," Ronny grinned, pulling out her cell phone and dialling her sister's number. "Funny conversations when they're up there."

Lily picked up on the other end, sounding a little confused that someone would call her at this time.

"_Hello?"_

"How's my favourite biological sister?" Ronny asked.

"_I'm the only sister you have and what are you doing? I'm in the Spirit World!"_

"Is that going to stop you from coming down to earth to defeat Dai Shi?" Ronny asked.

There was no response from Lily, but Ronny could hear her talking to someone in the background. She waited, tapping her foot impatiently (it is Ronny after all).

When Lily finally came back, Ronny was almost hit by the smile on her little sister's face through the phone.

"_The team and I will be there soon!" Lily exclaimed, "But only the team. Not everyone's up to fighting without a spirit."_

"What about you?" Ronny asked. "Don't you need a spirit to morph?"

"_It's called improvising. See you in ten."_

Ronny hung up and smiled at the young Rangers before her.

"The Jungles will be here in ten minutes," she told them.

Suddenly, a glow of light appeared in the middle of the room, and all five Jungle Fury Rangers landed in a big pile by the couch.

"Or ten seconds..." Ronny frowned before helping her sister up. "That was fast."

"I get it from you," Lily laughed.

Dillon looked at the former Rangers, who were supposed to be the ones coming to assist them, yet they were all middle-aged.

"I thought you said we needed a real team up, not a makeshift team," he frowned, looking over at Ronny.

"This is a real team... a bunch of martial artist, animal spirit holding losers, but they are a team!" Ronny teased, before she was hit in the head by Casey.

"We are not martial artists," he frowned playfully. "We train in kung fu."

"Whoo! Way to defend our honour, Casey!" Dom chuckled.

"Joking aside," Lily smiled, looking over at Dillon. He was obviously the brooding bad boy of the team, "We are here to help in any way. On or off the battle field."

"Did you dye your hair?" RJ asked, finally getting a good look at Hayden, only to realise she wasn't the blond he once knew. Hayden grabbed some hair in her hand and looked down.

"Yeah," she nodded.

"You look good in red," RJ smiled. Dani was silently cheering as Hayden growled.

"It's brown!" she frowned, shoving her red head cousin aside. RJ backed away. From the looks of things (Dani's dancing and Hayden's forceful attempts to possibly murder her cousin) he had hit a bad vibe.

"Lily, you take over. No one gets mad when you speak," RJ said. Lily laughed, patting her old Master on the shoulder. Sadly, she didn't have anything to say.

Dillon did though, "No offense, but how are you going to help us?"

"We know a thing or two about Dai Shi," Theo smirked. "And you need us to lock him up."

"I want him dead," Samantha growled.

"That works too!" Dom grinned.

"I bet no other team had to do this..." Hayden groaned as the Jungle Fury team gave their morphers to Dr. K, Gem and Gemma so they could make it work without spirits. "Fighting alongside your Aunt and Uncles... it's..."

"Odd?" Dani asked.

"Weirder than tuna," Hayden nodded.

-----RPM-----

"Venjix creates me as a super-powerful attack bot, knows I can take down the Rangers when the time is right. Programmes me with a brain, unlike two bots I know, and I still don't get respect," Tenaya grumbled as she sat in a cave in the wastes, digging a whole so Engel could light a fire. "I think he's not fully programmed."

"You'll have your time to shine, Tenaya," Engel smiled, dropping a collection of flammable items by the whole. Tenaya pushed them in, and Engel created fire.

"What are you anyways?" Tenaya asked.

"I am the all powerful Dai Shi. I am the only thing that will bring this world to its knees and begging for mercy. I am the king of evil, I..."

"... smell like you've been in a box for thousands of years," Tenaya frowned, pinching her nose and waving the smell away. "Aside from that... great speech, but I've never heard of you."

"It works both ways," Engel frowned, "I've never heard of you, Tenaya. If you really are the attack bot you claim to be, why is it the king of evil doesn't know you're name."

"Tenaya Generation Seven, Venjix Human Infiltration Attack Bot..."

"Does this go on any longer?" Engel asked. Tenaya just rolled her eyes. One day she would finish that sentence.

She looked across the fire at the Master, "It's been almost a day now, shouldn't we go challenge the Rangers?"

"I guess you're right," Engel smiled, "It is time we return to the city and finish what we started."

"Killing the Rangers," Tenaya hopped up, but Engel shook her head.

"No, the downfall of humanity."

-----RPM-----

The alarm ripped through the air just as Dr. K finished up with the solar morphers. The Rangers and the Jungles ran through the garage, grabbing what they needed and assembling in the entryway.

"You guys ready for this?" Lily asked as Samantha slowly joined the two teams. The cheetah wrapped her arm around her niece in a comforting hug.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Scott nodded. "Ready?"

"Ready!" the RPM team and the Jungle Fury team nodded. Scott lead them out into the city as Dr. K, Gem, Gemma and Ronny watched, worried about the end result. Would Samantha really be able to destroy the woman who cared for her her entire life, or would she fail?

"I hate love," Dr. K grumbled as she turned to leave. Ronny nodded, agreeing. It was, after all, a blessing and a curse.

-----RPM-----

"Two minutes, three seconds, record time, Rangers," Tenaya laughed, standing in the middle of the street, with Engel hovering above her.

"You won't get away with any of this, Tenaya!" Scott barked, putting himself protectively in front of Samantha as she started to shake.

"Prove me wrong, Rangers!" Tenaya grinned, lowering her visor and running towards the Rangers.

The Jungle Fury Rangers knew that the RPM team could handle Tenaya. They ducked or jumped around her attacks, along with Samantha, and stood, face to face with Engel.

"We defeated you once already, Dai Shi, care to relive it?" Casey asked, dropping into a fighting stance. The others followed quickly.

"You don't have the power to defeat me," Engel laughed, raising her hand and pointing it at the Rangers.

The Rangers ducked as Engel shot at them with a great deal of power. They all looked back, wide eyed, as the building behind them vanished from the blow.

"Well, she did say power," Dom gulped. Theo looked at the Rhino and nodded nervously.

"This isn't fair," Lily huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, "All other team ups were dangerous, yeah, but did they involve that?"

It suddenly started raining debris. Little bits of powder fell from the sky, showering the rangers.

"Was that the building?" RJ asked, looking at the dust in his hands.

"Regretting your decision, Rangers?" Engel grinned, her hand coming back to the side of her body. Casey stood up, and the others quickly joined him.

"This plan won't work, Dai Shi!" he yelled, pushing away any trace of fear or weakness he felt.

"It already is," Engel grinned. Her body suddenly disappeared, leaving only a spirit. The spirit quickly flew past the Rangers, picking Samantha up and slamming her against a wall.

From the ground, Rinshi appeared. The Rangers tried to run to help Samantha, but they got caught up in individual battles against their old friends.

"Every time!" Dom groaned. "Can't we just have one team battle?"

"The fast you kick ass, the faster you'll get your wish!" Casey called.

Engel smiled as she held Samantha's neck in her hand, lifting her off the ground.

"I sense power in you," she smirked as Samantha struggled to break free. "Power that rivals mine."

Samantha grabbed her mother's wrist with both hands and pulled her body up. Her feet followed through with the movement and hit Engel in the stomach. The Angel recoiled in pain, letting Samantha fall back to her feet.

Samantha's tears fell as she lifted her hand. Once blow, with all her power, would knock the Dai Shi spirit out of her mother's body and allow her to rest in peace.

But she couldn't do it.

In her moment of hesitation, Engel struck, hitting the girl in the jaw and sending her to the ground.

"I'll kill you for your power. Like I did to your mother," Engel grinned. Samantha held her jaw in her hand, wishing she had Hayden's power. As Engel moved in closer to her, she spun around, taking her mother's feet out from under her.

"I'm sorry, mom," Samantha cried as her mother hit the ground, hard.

Engel growled, getting back to her feet as Samantha did the same. She knew there was no way the girl could go on the offensive, and therefore, it meant there was no way she would win.

"Bring out the Elephant!" Lily yelled, calling her spirit (the one she developed with lots of training from Master Phant). The Elephant charged towards Engel, hitting her in the back and smashing her face first into the wall she had Sam pinned against moments ago. Lily stepped forward. Her army of Rinshi was already gone.

"Leave her alone," she frowned, looking over at the Dai Shi as her elephant faded. Engel dropped to her knees, but quickly pulled herself up and turned around.

"What are you going to do about it, cheetah?" Engel asked. Samantha pulled away, trying to find somewhere to hide as her Aunt took on the evil spirit.

"She's not doing anything!" Casey yelled, throwing the last Rinshi on the ground and joining his wife. Theo, RJ and Dom followed him. "At least, not alone."

Casey looked over his shoulder at RJ, who nodded, before glancing at Samantha.

"We'll do what we can," he called to her. "But we can't do it all!"

Casey grabbed Lily's hand and threw her in the air, before calling the spirit of the Gorilla. It wasn't as powerful as his tiger, but at the moment, his tiger, as well as Theo's jaguar, Lily's cheetah, RJ's wolf and Dom's Rhino, were living inside Samantha, ready to destroy Dai Shi for good.

The Shark and the Gorilla were all he had left.

He jumped on the Gorilla's shoulder as it slammed it's fist down on Engel.

"Spirit of the Penguin!" Lily called from the skies as the little penguin emerged and hopped onto its snowboard.

"Spirit of the Antelope!" Theo yelled. The Antelope materialized and Theo jumped onto its back. The Antelope charged as the Gorilla got out of the way. It lowered its head, driving its horns into Engel's body.

Samantha shut her eyes and put her hands to her ears to block out her mother's cries of pain. She couldn't handle it. The tears dropped onto the cold cement as she turned away from the battle, refusing to watch anymore.

The Antelope pulled away, hoping to have caused some damage, but the wound in Engel's body closed up, and she laughed.

"That's it?" she asked.

"Hold on!" Lily yelled as her penguin dove down and kicked the snowboard up so the rear would slam into Engel's face, snapping her neck. Engel recovered once again before unleashing her power.

Lily was caught in the blow and was sent flying through the air. The other Rangers were caught in the wake and forced to the ground.

Casey quickly rolled, putting himself under his wife as she landed, and catching her in his arms.

"FIRE!" Scott yelled as he stood with the original five rangers, all holding up the Road Blaster and pointing it at Engel. Dillon and Ziggy held the Turbo Plasma launcher. At Scott's command, they fired their weapons, combining its power and hitting Engel.

She felt the pain of that one as well as she was thrown back, screaming. In her corner, Samantha was trying her best to block out the cries and hide from everything.

"Stop it..." she sobbed, shaking her head in distress. "Stop it..."

Daniela bolted towards the Engel, turning into a blur and landing a kick in her "Aunt's" chest just as she got up. Engel coughed, dropping to her knees, only to be suddenly hit under the chin.

Greg appeared beside his girlfriend, ready to pull her away as Engel exploded with power once more.

"Stop it..." Samantha continued to chant, rocking back and forth in her corner.

Lily ran over to her niece, and both nodded. Their teams stood behind them.

"Calling the animal spirits from within!" the Jungle team cried. The RPM grabbed their nitro blasters, powering them up.

Hayden couldn't find her sister but knew she would be able to hear her.

"Sammy, we can't do this without you! You gotta help!" she cried, aiming her blaster at her mother. All Rangers hesitated as they watched Engel stand, but as soon as she turned around to run to Samantha, Hayden made the call.

"Fire!" she yelled.

Fourteen different blasts of energy hit Engel in the back, almost knocking her down. She screamed, and both Engel's voice and Dai Shi's could be heard as she turned around, collecting the power.

The Rangers ceased fire and dropped, powering down as they looked at the damage they had done, or lack thereof.

Engel had managed to collect the energy and use it to power herself up.

"No..." Hayden breathed. Summer took her cousin's hand, but Hayden shook it off.

"Hayden don't," Lily coughed as she stood up.

Engel didn't bother with the Ranger anymore. She had proven they weren't worth her time. She snapped her fingers and Tenaya appeared once more to take them on so she could go after her daughter.

Hayden ran past Tenaya. She had to make it to her sister in time. If Samantha was hiding, that meant she wasn't ready to take on Engel just yet. She wouldn't survive the next blow.

"Engel!" Hayden yelled, lifting the earth at her sides and throwing it at her mother. Engel laughed. Her hand came up and Hayden felt something squeeze her throat. Her lips turned blue as she fell to her knees.

Engel stood over her and kicked her in the stomach. Hayden dropped, curled up on the ground as the force let go of her throat.

"Sammy..." she coughed.

"Stop it!" Samantha yelled. From the corner of her eye she saw everything and she had enough. She stood up, lifting her hand and catching Engel in her power. She threw her mother into the wall and ran to stand before her sister. "Stop it! Leave us alone!"

The spirits of the Masters started floating around her as Samantha's blood boiled. No one picked on her little sister like that, especially after killing her mother and putting her through hell.

"Unleash the beast!" Samantha yelled, sending all the Master's spirits onto Engel. They all disappeared inside Engel's body.

The sky turned black as the clouds rolled in. Samantha waited for the spirits to emerge.

Everyone watched patiently. There was not a sound. All life seemed to stop for that one short moment.

Everything changed in a matter of seconds as the spirits emerged. A booming sound echoed through the entire city, and Summer was sure her parents had heard it all the way in NewTech. The Spirits jumped out, all holding the black cloud of energy that was Dai Shi. They disappeared behind the clouds, leaving the earth.

Engel started to shake. There was nothing inside her anymore to keep her alive. No soul, no spirit.

"Mom...?" Samantha sobbed. As she took a step forward, Engel's body disappeared. "MOM!"

Samantha tried to run, but Hayden was quick at getting up and catching her sister in a much needed hug, keeping her away from what would surely break her heart.

"It's over," Hayden whispered, holding her sister. "There's nothing more you can do."

"I can help her!" Samantha screamed. "Let me go!"

"Sammy... don't do this..." Hayden struggled to hold her sister until a cry could be heard. It wasn't the cry of one of her team-mates, or of her Aunt or Uncles. It wasn't her sister and it wasn't her.

Samantha seemed to relax. She stopped fighting her sister and started to tear up as she looked at the spot where he mother last stood.

They cry was heard again, but didn't cease this time. Samantha listened closely. It sounded like a baby crying.

Hayden stepped out of her sister's way as Samantha ran forward, dropping next to cloth that had been dropped when Engel's body disappeared.

She lifted the fabric, finding a baby crying. As soon as the infant saw her, though, her tears dried and she smiled.

"Engel...?" Samantha asked. She lifted the baby, careful to support her head. She was still very young and would need someone to care for her at all hours.

Samantha held the child in her arms, and looked down at her. Shinning, hazel eyes looked back up at her and a toothless grin told Samantha everything she needed to know.

"Engel..."

Hayden knelt beside her sister, putting one hand on her shoulder and touching the little baby with the other. The baby wrapped its small fingers around one of Hayden's and pulled it towards her mouth.

"Aunt Leah was right," Hayden smiled. "Engel was still alive... she's just..."

"Not who she used to be," Samantha breathed.

"But you saved her!" Hayden hugged her sister with her one free arm. "You did it, Sammy."

Samantha hugged the child, letting the tears fall on the cloth covering the infant before the sky boomed. Both sisters and the baby screamed, turning around as all the animal spirits dropped from the sky.

"_This is far from over!"_


	45. A Moment in Time

Samantha held on tight to the baby as the dark cloud descended, bursting out all its energy. The Rangers on the ground where thrown back a few feet.

Hayden was lifted off the ground and hit the wall with her back, knocking the wind right out of her.

Samantha curled up, protecting the little baby in any way she could. She had already lost Engel once; she was not going to lose her again.

Suddenly, a gust of wind fought the power and Dai Shi's cloud of energy was the one pushed back. When everyone looked up to see who had come to their rescue, they saw Kelly.

She brushed her hair out of her face (sight was helpful when in combat), and smiled.

"It wouldn't be a Jungle Fury team up without me, would it?" she smirked. "And in any case, you are picking on my family."

"_I remember you! You're the wolf's girlfriend!"_

"Wife actually," Kelly smirked as the wind started to settle around her, "But that's just details."

Dai Shi roared and flew forward, towards Kelly, but she anticipated this. She leaned back as Dai Shi flew right above her, then kicked up. Dai Shi was pushed through the air to hit a street sign.

"Matrix!" Ziggy called, cheering the red head on. He had no idea who she was, but she was helping and he needed help. "That was awesome!"

"_You fool!" _ Dai Shi roared as the Jungles got up and stood in front of their RPM counterparts. Kelly grinned happily. For some odd reason, she was giddy. Dai Shi took notice, and her happiness enraged him. _"Why aren't you fearful?"_

"I don't know," Kelly shrugged. "What do I really have to fear? Samantha took away the powers you stole, now you're pretty much just a nasty cloud of hot air!"

"_Why, you..."_ Dai Shi prepared to attack. RJ pulled his wife behind him, fearing Dai Shi might hurt her.

"Rangers, GO!" RJ called and the Rangers scattered at his command. They each went to their fallen spirits, reclaiming them for power.

Dai Shi ripped through the sky, causing the rain to fall down.

"This is it?" Summer laughed, getting to her feet. Dillon stood beside her, holding his ribs with one hand, and the small of her back with the other, letting her know that he was nearby if she needed.

"Rain?" Mike smirked, eyeing Dai Shi in the sky. "Welcome to my playground."

The drops of rain around his froze in mid air, before coming together. Mike glanced up at the evil spirit that murdered his grandmother. In anger, he shot the water up, thanking genetic for blessing him with such powers.

As his orb of water shot up, Mike called upon the power of thunder, which his father had trained him in. The water collided with Dai Shi just as lightning struck. Needless to say, this was enough to send Dai Shi to the ground.

As he hit the ground, everything shook. Hayden laughed.

"My turn!" she giggled, stomping her feet, empowering the earthquake. No one, not even Dai Shi, could stand.

The living Masters were finally released from the spirit world now that Samantha had given up their animal spirits, and they swooped down hitting Dai Shi, before collecting their animals.

"Only the three chosen one can defeat the Dai Shi!" Master Finn yelled. Casey, Lily and Theo nodded, holding hands. Their spirits rose, high up in the air and played together shortly, before they were told they were needed.

The tiger roared and ran through the air, coming down on Dai Shi. Just as he landed, he slammed his front paws down on Dai Shi and grabbed him in his mouth, ripping the cloud apart.

The cheetah darted past its mate, pouncing playfully as it waited for its turn. The tiger eyed the cheetah and moved away.

The cheetah growled, narrowing its eyes on its prey before jumping into the attack. The jaguar was close behind, helping its cheetah friend finish off the Dai Shi.

When Casey, Lily and Theo thought Dai Shi had suffered enough (well, there was never too much torture for Dai Shi), the three Masters called their spirits to order.

"_I will not be destroyed!"_ Dai Shi yelled.

"Yeah, right," Casey scoffed as he and the two others sent their spirits against Dai Shi for a final time, ripping through his cloud of energy. He roared in pain as his life was taken away from him.

Everyone could hear a ringing noise as it grew louder and louder, before piercing their ears. Even Summer, who thanks to her powers could stand high pitched sounds, couldn't block out the pain the ringing was causing them.

The baby in Samantha's arms was screaming as if someone had just stabbed her in the chest with a knife, but Samantha couldn't hear it; all she could hear, all she could feel, was the loud ringing that never seemed to end. She rocked the child, trying to sooth her.

Suddenly, everything stopped. The ringing was gone, and everyone around Samantha stopped moving, as if frozen in time. Even the baby was still.

Samantha, afraid something happened to the young child, tried waking her. Tears were at her eyes from the stress, the confusion and the fear.

_What's going on?_

From loud ringing to dead silence, Samantha felt like her head was about to be ripped off. She couldn't take it. She walked over to her sister, a few feet away, and wrapped the baby in her arms before going back to the wall and leaning against it. She let out a loud and desperate cry as she dropped down and curled up.

"I want it to stop!" she screamed, knowing no one could hear her. "I want to go back! I want everything to be right! I don't want this!"

Samantha was shaking so much by this time that she didn't even need to rock. Her throat was raw from screaming, her stomach hurt, her lungs felt as if they were about to implode.

Her head was pounding; her knuckles were raw and red. She was bruised and bleeding from her fight against Dai Shi. She was anything but okay. She was far from it.

Samantha forgot. She forgot what happiness felt like. What it was like to love and be loved. How it felt when someone wrapped their arms around her and told her everything was going to work out. She forgot who she was, why she was so miserable, and what she was trying to do.

"I just want to go home!" she cried, slamming her head against the wall. She couldn't feel pain anyways. Her mother was gone; ripped away unfairly by a spirit that shouldn't have even been alive!

"I can't do this!" Samantha screamed, grabbing a rock and throwing it. But with time at a standstill, the rock didn't move. It hovered in the air. Samantha couldn't even get the satisfaction of unleashing her anger.

She grabbed the rock again and slammed it into the ground with such force that it cracked. The rock pierced her hand, drawing blood. Samantha yelped in pain. She didn't expect that and couldn't dull the pain with her mind.

She was in such a state, she was ready to just give in and rot. Happiness was gone. Love was gone. There was nothing worth living for anymore.

"Mommy..." Samantha called, choking on her tears as she looked to the sky, where Engel always told her to look when she was lost. "Mom... what do I do...?"

Nothing happened. Samantha's lower lip quivered as she waited for a response that was never going to come. Her mother was dead. There wasn't going to be help. There were no more words of advice. No more comforting hugs. No more kisses.

Of course she had Kaylee, her biological mom, but even she couldn't replace a mother of nineteen years. She knew Kaylee loved her unconditionally, and would pick up exactly where Engel left off, but it wasn't the same. In all honesty, Kaylee was like a really kind, caring, sweet, loving and determined step-mother: never the real thing, but close enough.

Samantha needed more than that. She needed the comfort of the person who chased away the monsters when she was a child. She needed the soft and gentle touch of the woman who cleaned her cuts and make them disappear. She needed the kind words of a lady who believe in her, no matter what she did.

"I want my mommy!" Samantha screamed, hating just how childish and desperate she sounded. "I love you... I need you to come back! Please, Mom! I'll do anything! I need you here!"

"_I'll always be here."_

Samantha stopped. She heard a voice; a voice that warmed her in this cold time, the only voice that could mend her broken heart and repair all damage that had been done.

"Mommy?"

"_You haven't called me that in twelve years."_

The voice was laughing gently, and it brought a smile to Samantha's face. She stood up and looked around for her mother, but there was no one in sight.

"Mom, where are you?"

"_Look down."_

Samantha looked down and saw the baby in Hayden's arms.

"_I'll always be with you, Samantha Angel, but my time is done. I'm no longer who I used to be."_

"You... you won't remember me?" Samantha cried.

"_Baby girl, I'll always remember you. But not in the same way."_

"You can't leave me, mommy..." Samantha cried. "I'm not done."

"_You still have a mother. I trust her with you."_

"It's not the same!"

"_Samantha, in my new form, I will never remember who I was or what I did. Your stories about me will all be fairy tales... dreams, if you will. But, my sweet, baby girl, I will always be with you."_

"Mom, a baby isn't going to..."

"_Here."_

A warm hand could be felt over Samantha's heart. Though Engel was nowhere in sight, Samantha could feel her presence.

"_I will always be with you, right here. Promise you'll never forget me."_

Samantha nodded, touching her chest, right where her heart was. She could almost feel her mother's hands in hers.

"For as long as I live," Samantha nodded, "Forever and always and more."

"_I love you, Angel._"

Samantha felt her mother's touch move away from her heart and caress her cheek for a moment. Samantha followed it with her own hands, not wanting to let go.

"_Make me proud. I promise I will you."_

A pale blue light descended from the sky and floated down into the child. The infant glowed slightly, before time was restored.

"Samantha?" Kaylee yelled as pieces of Dai Shi's spirit showered down on the Rangers and Masters. "Hayden! Sammy!"

"Mom!" Samantha responded, making her way over debris and people and leaping into Kaylee's arms. "She's gone..." she sobbed.

Kaylee held her eldest daughter in her arms and gently rocked her.

"You'll be okay," she whispered. "I promise, you'll be okay."

Samantha nodded as she cried on her mother's shoulder.

Hayden didn't remember having the child, but she held onto her as Leanne approached her.

"This is Engel?" the red head asked. Hayden nodded.

"Sam seems to think so."

"I knew she wasn't gone," Leanne smiled, gently touching the baby. The little child cooed, grabbing Leanne's finger and playing with it.

"Is it over?" Dillon asked, helping Summer to stand. The others all got to their feet as well, tired of bonding with the dirt.

"Dai Shi is gone," Swoop nodded. "He will no longer pose a threat."

"What about Tenaya?" Ziggy asked, looking for the attack bot, but she was nowhere in sight.

"I'm guessing she ran," Kaylee smiled, joining the group with Samantha.

Sammy walked to her sister, taking the baby. Master Phant smiled.

"Who will care for her?" he asked.

"Maybe we should take her to the spirit world," Camille suggested. "I'm sure Master Guinn won't mind finally having a daughter."

"No," Samantha shook her head, holding the baby in her arms and offering her love, support and protection. "She'll stay with me. I want her."

"Are you sure you can do this?" Kaylee asked. Scott nodded, agreeing with his mentor.

"Sammy, a baby's a lot of stress. You're still a kid, you..."

"Mom took care of me my entire life," Samantha said, looking down at the small infant, slowly falling asleep in her arms, feeling safe and loved. Samantha kissed the baby girl on the cheek, and looked at her family. "I think it's time I return the favour."

"Are you sure?" Scott pressed, feeling a little uneasy now that his girlfriend had decided to adopt a child. He could understand his position, but he wasn't ready for this.

"Scott, I love you, I always will, but this is something I have to do. This is my mother, you have to believe me. No one else should raise her but me."

"I do believe you, Sammy," Scott nodded, taking Samantha's hand. "And you need to do what you think it right... for the baby."

Samantha looked down and started to cry. She knew she was still young, and in many ways she still needed to grow, but she wasn't about to let this child go.

"I want to..."

"But is it what she needs?"

Mike stepped up, placing his hand on Samantha's shoulder. "I don't care what any of you say. I'll help her with this child."

Hayden nodded. "I'll help her too."

Of course, Summer wanted to help. She stepped up, and soon, the entire RPM team was offering to help Samantha with the baby.

Kaylee looked over at Scott and smiled. He nodded and stepped forward, accepting the responsibility of caretaker for the baby.

"I'll help you guys as well," Kaylee said, taking the little girl from her daughter and holding her up. She cooed gently, using a little voice for the smiling infant, "But you will not call me grandma, okay? Okay, baby girl?"

Everyone laughed, smiling as the baby reached out to grab Kaylee's hair.

Leanne turned to her niece, "What are you going to name her, Sammy?" she asked.

Samantha looked at the baby and remembered her mother. Her spirit did live on inside the child; there was only one name that fit.

"Evangeline," she whispered as Kaylee handed the baby back. She looked down at the baby, now settling down after playing with her "not-a-grandma". "Evangeline, or Angel."

Casey took a deep breath and looked at the masters.

"We better get back then," he said, hugging his wife and patting Leanne on the shoulder. "I'm sure Heather's wondering where we are and Kira might want her team doctor back."

Leanne and Lily both nodded, saying goodbye to their new friends and their family. When they reached Sam and baby Angel, they just had to coo and tickle the baby softly (it's a girl thing).

Casey shook hands with the boys on the RPM team and hugged Kaylee.

The remaining living masters waved goodbye, feeling slightly out of place with the team of teenagers, most of which they never met.

That left just the RPM team and Kaylee now. The mentor wrapped her arms around her daughters and kissed them both on the cheeks.

-----RPM-----

"Another baby!" Dustin cried as Kaylee broke the news to him. He was a grandpa! Of course, Kaylee refused to admit she was a grandmother. She was not going to be anything _grand_ until her daughters were married and actually ready for kids.

"Honey," Dustin started, taking a deep breath to calm down, "You know I love Christian and he's totally the son I always wanted and he means the world to me, just like both our girls, but can we really take another baby?"

"Oh, it's not ours," Kaylee grinned, popping into the lab to announce the return of the team. She looked back at Dustin afterwards and smiled, "Its Samantha's baby! Congratulation, Grandpa!"

Dustin was white as a sheet, and Kaylee was afraid he would pass out. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I'm going to kill him!" Dustin growled, preparing to murder Scott. Kaylee put a hand on his chest.

"Whoa, old man, it's not Scott's kid," she laughed, "It's actually Engel's reincarnated spirit."

"Ooh," Dustin said, but Kaylee knew the tone he was using. That was the sarcastic _that makes it better_ tone. "Where is that kid?"

"Okay, okay!" Kaylee called as Dustin moved away. She held onto him as he dragged her across the room to beat Scott. "Scott's not even going to be the father! Relax!"

"Who is the father?" Dustin asked.

Kaylee thought for a moment. If Samantha was the official mother, because she stepped up first, then the first boy to offer to raise the child would be the father.

"Mike."

"I'm going to... Mike?" Dustin turned to his wife, and Kaylee laughed, picturing a question mark over his head. She patted his chest and kissed him.

"We're raising Eva as a team," she assured her husband. "Samantha's going to get help from everyone."

"I still don't think a baby's a good idea," Dustin sighed, finally relaxed. "I mean, they poop, eat and cry all the time! Remember Hayden!"

"I know," Kaylee giggled.

"And you never get sleep! And you know how Ronny loves her sleep! I'm sure she's going to hate this baby the moment she sees it! I keep hearing stories about how she wanted to muzzle baby Dani..."

"A BABY!" Ronny practically screamed in joy as she walked out of the lab and saw the small infant in her nieces arm.

"Oh yeah," Kaylee giggled, rolling her eyes. "Ronny's really going to hate this kid."


	46. Snow

Dr. K stared down at the little baby, sleeping in her playpen. The Rangers were training with Kaylee, Dustin and Ronny.

Christian was visiting his cousins, Jason and Elena, while Gem and Gemma were in the boom-room for their daily boom-hour.

The young doctor was alone with the sleeping infant, just watching her. She had never seen a baby while she lived with the Soup. All she ever really saw were young infants, or even toddlers, who passed away from disease. The Soup hoped Dr. K could find some kind of cure to prevent the spread of the disease they held, and thanks to improved technology she had helped many people.

"Do you do anything special?" Dr. K asked Engel, poking her stomach. Engel squirmed in her sleep and stuck her thumb in her mouth. K frowned. "Is that is?"

She poked the child again, hoping to stimulate some kind of reaction. When that didn't work, she tried something else.

She had seen Samantha tickle the little girl's stomach to get her to laugh and decided to try that. Gently, she moved her fingers along the side of the little girl.

Engel started pulling away, fluttering her eyes open as she did. She looked around before letting out a loud cry.

Dr. K stepped back, throwing her hands up in defence. Samantha, who was sleeping on the couch, woke up immediately and saw Dr. K freaking out. She laughed slightly, bending over to pick up her daughter.

"I d-didn't mean to wa-wake her," Dr. K stammered, afraid Samantha would be angry. "I was just doing some research. I- I'm s-sorry..."

"It's okay, Doctor," Samantha smiled. She rocked Evangeline in her arms, soothing the baby. When Engel stopped crying, she placed her back in her bed. She looked up at Dr. K, who was observing the baby.

"Have you ever seen a baby before?" she asked the doctor. Doctor K shook her head. "You do know what a baby is though, right?"

Doctor K frowned, "Of course I know what a baby is. It's the first stage of physical human development."

"Okay..." Samantha nodded. "Do you know where babies come from?"

Dr. K nodded, "I heard the speech twice: once when I was a child, and another time from Kaylee, when I accidentally asked where she came from."

"Oh, yeah, Hayden told me that happened to her," Samantha laughed. She looked over at Dr. K, "If you know about babies and where they come from, why are you so mesmerized with Eva?"

"I've been researching love," Dr. K admitted. "And I know children are made from love. Is a child what love is?"

Samantha smirked. She knew how to explain to Dr. K what love was. She picked up Engel, making sure she didn't wake the child, then placed her in Dr. K's arms.

"Careful with her head," she told the doctor.

Dr. K held the child in her arms, but kept her distance. She didn't know what to do with the small thing.

But as soon as Evangeline looked up at her with her soft hazel eyes Dr. K felt her heart swell.

"You feel that?" Samantha asked, gently stroking her daughter's head. "That's love."

Samantha took Engel back as she started to whimper, hungry. Dr. K grinned and touched her heart. Now that she knew what love was, she was sure of her feelings about Ziggy.

-----RPM-----

"Boo!" Hayden giggled, jumping out from behind a mountain of snow and nailing Ziggy in the face with a snowball. He screamed as his face froze up. Hayden ran away, until Scott popped out from behind a tree.

"Grab her!" he yelled, nailing her with the snowballs in his hands while Flynn and Mike grabbed the pink Ranger.

"NO!" Hayden giggled, kicking her feet as Flynn wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her.

"DIE!" Summer and Dani yelled, jumping out from the tree and landing on Mike and Ziggy, sending them into the snow.

"Not so fast!" Greg called, jumping out of the mountain and tackling the girls into the snow. Mike and Ziggy pushed themselves off the ground, spitting out snow from their mouths and wiping their faces.

"BOOM!"

"BAM!"

"POW!"

The boom-twins cried as they pushed a button and the mountain of snow exploded all over the Rangers. Everyone giggled, enjoying the snowfall.

Dillon sat on the sidelines, beside the snowman Christian, Kaylee and Dustin made before going inside for some hot chocolate.

"What losers," he scoffed. Suddenly, he felt a thin around wrap around his shoulders. He looked up at the snowman, slightly afraid.

Its head turned to him before it spoke, "I'm cold. Hug me!"

Both arms went in for a hug from Dillon, but he jumped away.

"What the hell!" he yelled.

Ronny laughed, jumping out from behind the snowman and poking Dillon with the stick arms she had been controlling.

"Ronny?" he asked. "What the hell was that?"

"You were totally scared!" Ronny giggled. Dillon recomposed himself, putting his hands in his jacket pockets and glaring at the older woman.

"I don't get scared."

"And I don't like speed," Ronny smirked. Dillon shook his head and laughed.

"Alright, I was a little... spooked," Dillon admitted.

"Please, you probably pissed yourself."

Dillon frowned, before he was hit in the chest with a snowball. He looked over at the others and saw Summer with a playful guilty look.

"Oh, that's it!" Dillon smirked, bending down and grabbing a handful of snow in his hand. He balled it up and threw it at Summer.

The blond ducked, causing the snowball to miss and fly to the door, where Dr. K was coming out to talk to Ziggy.

Dr. K knew about snow. She knew it was cold and fluffy, but she didn't know it could be used as a weapon.

Ziggy walked over to her, doubled over in laughter.

"You were nailed!" he giggled. Dr. K scowled at him. He immediately stopped laughing when he saw the look and coughed. He pulled on his scarf, laughing nervously, "Uh, I mean... um... are you okay?"

"Peachy, Ziggy," Dr. K nodded. "But I was just wondering if we could..."

Dr. K was interrupted when a snowball hit her in the stomach and Scott cheered.

"Point for the boys!" he called, high-fiving Mike.

"And a hostage!" Mike laughed and Flynn threw Hayden into the snow.

"Aha! Distraction worked!" Ziggy smirked. He picked up some snow, moulded it into a ball, and threw it at Dr. K before running away.

Dr. K stood, slightly confused and hurt that she couldn't talk to Ziggy, but when she was hit by a snowball in the back, she needed revenge.

"That's it!" she yelled, adjusting her hat on her head, "I'm in this game!"

Everyone stopped and looked at her. They had included her in the game when she walked in, but they didn't think she would join.

"Really?" Ziggy asked the doctor. She nodded, grinning.

"This is a child's game," she said. "I'm sure with a little..."

Dr. K was hit again, by surprise, by a snowball from Ziggy. She laughed, grabbing some snow and tossing it at Ziggy. He ran away as the snow melted on his neck and dropped down his shirt.

The Rangers battled on until long after night had fallen. They were finally called inside by Dustin, who was afraid they would all suffer from hypothermia. He helped them with their snow equipment (11 people all getting undressed by the front door is not easy) before Hayden bounced over to her sister and niece.

"Boo!" Hayden giggled, gently poking her sister's cheek. Samantha swatted the hand away. Hayden sat down on the couch next to her and looked down at the little baby. "She's not really grandma anymore."

"That's weird," Samantha chuckled. She picked up the little girl from the playpen and yawned. "Engel and I are going to bed. Goodnight."

"'Nighty, night!" everyone responded in a baby voice, waving gently with their hands. Samantha laughed, knowing she was going to have to get used to this.

"I'm going to help her," Scott announced, following his girlfriend.

Hayden shrugged, taking her sister's spot on the couch so she could lounge.

"She's not leaving that kid's side," Summer stated, lifting Hayden's feet and sitting on the couch, allowing her cousin to rest her legs on her lap.

"She's a mommy now," Hayden frowned, "It's her job to be with the baby."

"Yeah... but she's always in the same room as Engel," Summer explained. "You have to know what the baby's doing at all times, but we have technology that will allow us to do that from a different room."

"She's still new to this," Hayden shrugged, "She'll catch on and be a pro before we know it."

"I hope so," Summer sighed.

Hayden looked up at the bedroom door, "It's not like she'll push us aside because of the baby."

"I wouldn't blame her if she did. I mean, with everything that's happened with Engel and Dai Shi, I can understand why she would be attached to the baby..."

"She wouldn't push us aside though..."

"She kinda just did," Dani laughed, dropping tiny marshmallows into a mug of hot chocolate. "We come in, she leaves for bed."

"She's tired," Hayden defended her sister. After all, caring for a baby was a lot of work, and Samantha wouldn't push her aside on purpose.

"I know," Dani nodded.

Hayden pulled herself off the couch. She was going to go talk to her sister and prove to the others that Samantha wasn't pushing them aside. She told her cousins goodnight and made her way to her room.

She quietly walked into the bedroom, finding her sister listening to her music with her earphones, so she didn't wake the baby. Hayden sat down on her bed and threw a small pillow at her sister to draw her attention.

"Hey," she whispered.

"Hey," Samantha nodded, turning the music down slightly, but not off.

"How was your first day with the baby?" Hayden asked, trying to start a conversation. Samantha smiled.

"It was great. Tired though but I can totally see why parents love to do it! Engel's such a happy baby!"

"Cool," Hayden nodded.

There was a sudden pause. No one spoke. Hayden was waiting for her sister to continue the conversation, but Samantha didn't seem to want to.

"So... the girls won the snowball fight," Hayden smirked. "Once Doc K joined, we kicked ass! Who knew she was so good at winter sports."

"Nice," Samantha nodded.

There was another pause in conversation. Hayden's smile dropped slightly.

"You, uh, seem a little tired, Sammy," tired wasn't the word Hayden wanted to use. Distracted was more like it, but she couldn't bring herself to do anything to blame Samantha for this strange attitude.

"Taking care of a kid is hard work, Hayden. I just need some sleep."

"Then go to bed," Hayden laughed. "You won't fall asleep with music blaring in your ears."

"I might," Samantha nodded.

There was another strange pause that lasted until Scott walked into the room with a diaper bag. Samantha pulled her earphones out and smiled at him.

"Yay, thank you!" she said, taking the bag and kissing her boyfriend. "Now I don't have to worry about mid-night poop."

"No problem," Scott laughed. "I'll leave you to sleep. Goodnight, Sam."

"'Night, Scott. Maybe tomorrow you and I can take Engel on a walk... just the two of us!" Sammy suggested. Scott smiled and nodded.

"Sounds great!"

He blew his girlfriend a kiss from the door and walked down to the lab, where doctor K and Ziggy were talking. After the snowball fight, the two really seemed to be bonding. Scott had noticed that the doctor was trying to spend time with the team now, especially Ziggy.

He knew she was crushing on him, and thought it was kinda cute how nervous she was to open up and let herself fall in love. But she was trying.

"C'mon, just try it, K," Ziggy insisted, "It's not going to hurt."

"I just don't understand the point of this game. Hippopotamuses don't eat little white balls!"

"It's just a game!" Ziggy laughed.

"Well if it is a game, shouldn't the balls be divided evenly so each hippo gets the same amount and there is no arguing? Wouldn't that be a great way to teach kids to share?"

"Then how would we know who wins?" Ziggy frowned.

"You're supposed to win?"

"Yeah, the hippo who eats the most is the winner. That's why we don't split the balls."

"Why would a hippo want to eat the most?" Dr. K frowned. "It should only eat until it's satisfied."

"But these are hungry, hungry hippos," Ziggy explained.

"Balls won't help the hunger. It will only cause stomach problems."

"The balls are supposed to be food."

"Well whoever designed this game did not provide the hippos with enough 'food'."

"And that's why they have to fight to get the most balls!" Ziggy grinned.

"Why not just give them what they need to eat?"

"Dr. K, it's just a game."

"It's not very realistic," Dr. K frowned. Ziggy groaned.

"Are we going to play or not?" he asked. Dr. K nodded and Ziggy put the balls in the arena.

"Alright, are you ready?" he asked the doctor. "One, two, three..."

"Hold on, how do you get the hippo to eat?" Dr. K asked.

"You slap the lever," Ziggy pointed to the little lever on the back of the hippo.

"How is that realistic? No wonder children are messed up these days!"

Ziggy groaned loudly. He enjoyed teaching Dr. K how to live a normal life and how to have fun, but he hated when she brought science into everything.

Back upstairs, Hayden was looking over at her sister, who moments ago seemed to be at her happiest. Now that Scott was gone though, she was back to her quiet and distracted mood.

Hayden cleared her throat. She did want to talk to her sister, even for a few minutes, before she went to sleep.

"After your walk tomorrow, think you and I can play a game or something? You know, when Sammy's napping?"

"Maybe," Samantha nodded, "But I'll probably be tired."

"But if you're not we'll play?" Hayden asked.

"Sure," Samantha said, "Now I'm gonna sleep. Goodnight, Hayden."

_Ouch,_ Hayden frowned, feeling slightly burned. She felt like she could barely pull a few words out of her sister. Hopefully this was just temporary. Like she had told herself before, Samantha was tired because of the baby, and did need a little alone time.

Hayden could deal with that. She understood that, yes, she was going to have less time with her sister. But the way her sister was just shrugging everything off, and not trying to hold up a decent conversation with her did hurt.

Hayden let it go for tonight, hoping things would change soon.


	47. Maybe Tomorrow

"So, where's Sammy?" Flynn asked Hayden. She groaned, hating the fact that she had been asked this question over a dozen times. It had now been a month since little Engel had been a part of the Ranger deal and everything was starting to change.

Samantha looked and to be honest smelt like a new mother. She was wearing sweats, her hair was either pulled back carelessly or let down, looking as if Samantha hadn't figured out how to use a hair brush. She was always cradling the now two month of child (Doc helped locate Engel's age), refusing to let Engel out of her sight, unless she was with Kaylee, Dustin, Hayden, Summer or Mike, or on rare occasions, the other Rangers.

Thanks to always being with the baby, Samantha now smelt like poop, vomit or, after a shower, she would smell like baby (which smelt really good to the Rangers. Who didn't like the smell of the child they loved).

Smell wasn't something that seemed to bother the Rangers though, because they never really saw Samantha anymore. When she wasn't with the baby, she was going out with Scott. It seemed that was all she had time for. Engel or Scott.

Everyone understood, at first. Engel was a dependent baby. She needed a mother to care for her around the clock. She couldn't survive on her own, even for a few hours. But the longer this went on without change, the more the Rangers started to miss Samantha.

They tried making plans with her. Kaylee and Dustin offered to babysit while all the Rangers went to dinner. Samantha had gone, happy to get out of the house, but she spent all her time talking about the baby and wondering if Engel was okay.

_"Sammy, you see me?"_ Hayden would tell her sister when the panic went too far. _"I turned out okay. I'm sure mom and dad remember what they did right."_

That always calmed her down, for a few minutes. By the end of the night, everyone was relieved to be home; Samantha, because she could see Engel again, and the others because they didn't have to hear her voice her concerns all night.

Hayden was really starting to feel thrown aside. Anytime she asked to make plans with her sister, she always received a maybe. Nothing was set in stone anymore, and Samantha didn't seem to want to make time for Hayden. It was as if everything else came first.

Hayden looked up at Flynn as he asked his question and shrugged.

"I don't know," she answered him. "Last I heard she was going out."

"With Scott?"

"The tooth fairy," Hayden replied sarcastically. "Who else?"

"I'm sure once Engel gets a little older she's be running back to us, ready to spend every waking hour by our sides," Flynn said, wrapping his girlfriend in his arms.

"I'm giving her fourteen days," Hayden frowned.

"Fourteen? Lass, I know kids grow up quickly, but that's not..."

"My birthday," Hayden grinned, turning around in Flynn's arms so she could look up at him. "You didn't forget, did you?"

"Is that coming up already?" Flynn teased, pretending not to remember.

"Yep, in exactly two weeks!" Hayden giggled. "February 14th! Good luck!"

"February... oh no..." Flynn frowned, realising the date of her birthday and suddenly dreading it. "It's on... Valentine's?"

"I am the best Valentine's day gift ever!" Hayden smirked. "Dad said he's been having a hard ass time trying to find something to top me."

"My girlfriend is born on Valentine's day?" Flynn frowned, "This requires a lot more planning..."

Hayden kissed her boyfriend, "I don't care what you do," she said. "As long as you're there... and you don't forget."

"I can do that," Flynn nodded.

"Good," Hayden smiled. "I just hope Samantha's gonna be there."

"She's your sister, of course she will," Flynn assured his girlfriend, but he could tell his words did nothing.

"I know she'll be there," Hayden nodded, "But... I meant, I hope her head's not elsewhere."

-----RPM-----

"God, you stink!" Samantha giggled as she pulled Engel out from her bath and carried her over to the changing table. A bath right before bed was the best way to get Engel to sleep through the night.

"She stinks like baby," Ronny laughed. "It's yummy."

"It smells like poop at the moment," Samantha smirked. Ronny handed her a diaper and frowned.

"Then you didn't wash her properly."

"It could be that," Samantha nodded. She diapered the child then grabbed her pyjamas. "Or it could be the week old diaper Mike promised to take to the trash."

She pointed to the disposal at the other end of the room and plugged her nose. Ronny nodded in agreement before going over to the garbage to take it out of the room before someone died.

"He's a man," she laughed, "You can't expect him to do baby things right away. I remember having to tell David three times to feed Dani. Poor child almost starved when I left the house."

"He didn't feed her?" Samantha frowned, "That's a little irresponsible."

"Oh, he fed her," Ronny nodded, "But he had his own schedule, and you know babies don't like to play along with your rules."

Samantha couldn't help but agree as she buttoned up Engel's pyjamas. Just as she went to lift the baby up to take her to her crib, the little girl threw up on her clothes.

"Exhibit A," Ronny laughed. "I don't think she wanted to wear that."

Samantha groaned, pulling off the pyjamas and tossing it to Ronny to put in the wash. She went to get another set.

This time, she was going to let Engel choose between the yellow suit her Aunt Summer got her, or the pink one from her Aunt Hayden.

She brought both pieces over to Engel and held them over.

"Choose, Angel," she smiled, laying the pink set down on Engel to see her reaction. When there was none, Samantha took that as a no. "Yellow?" she asked, setting the yellow suit down.

No reaction from the child again.

"You're a tough cookie," Samantha smiled. She put both pieces down and looked at her daughter, "What do you want to wear?"

Engel smiled at her mother, grabbing some hair that feel in reach and pulling. Samantha groaned in pain, ripping her hair out from the baby's grip.

Without hair to entertain her, Engel grew bored and shut her eyes.

"You wanna sleep in a diaper?" Samantha whispered to the baby. "Okay, but don't come crying to me when you get cold."

Samantha held little Engel and walked to the rocking chair to help lull the baby to sleep. Once she was sure Engel wouldn't cry, she put her in her crib. Before leaving, she adjusted the temperature in the room, ever so slightly, to make sure Engel wouldn't be too cold.

She turned on the monitor and walked downstairs to the garage.

Dani and Flynn were working together on Dillon's car, while Dillon sat and watched. He was perfectly content at watching the two mechanics argue over what the car needed, and even chuckled when Dani smeared oil on Flynn's face.

Summer was playing pool with Scott and Ziggy, again using her skills to earn herself some money. Dr. K was watching the game and even offering Ziggy some pointers. In the past few months, the two had grown much closer, and Samantha was sure something was going to spark between them. Really, the only thing holding Dr. K back was fear of getting hurt. She still occasionally picked on Ziggy and blamed him when things went badly, but she always found time to apologize.

Greg was sitting with Hayden, arguing over who had the TV remote. Once again, Greg wanted to watch some weird documentary, while Hayden wanted to laugh. Unless the documentary was about funny animals or people, she was sure she wasn't going to laugh.

Hayden spotted her sister and smiled. Maybe now that Engel was in bed she could talk to her sister.

"Sammy, tell Greg we don't want to watch a stupid show about how ketchup came to be!"

"It's not ketchup! It's tomato paste!" Greg argued.

"In the end you squish tomatoes. Big whoop! I want funny!"

"Can you guys turn the TV off actually?" Samantha asked politely, waving the monitor. "I don't want Eva to wake up."

"Don't worry, if she does I'll go up with her," Hayden assured her sister. "C'mon, sit, relax!"

Samantha accepted, taking a seat on the other couch so she could lie down. Hayden smiled at her.

"So, what's new?" she asked. "You've been pretty busy lately."

"Poop, food and vomit," Samantha sighed, looking at her sister. "Everyday it's the same."

"Tell Mike to watch her sometimes," Hayden suggested. "After all, he is the unofficial father of your unofficial daughter."

"He does watch her," Samantha assured her sister, "But I like doing it."

"I guess," Hayden nodded.

"Well, now that she's asleep, why don't we play a game?" Greg suggested, reaching over to the coffee table where the others left the game of Hungry, Hungry hippos. Hayden bounced off her seat and chose her hippo (pink of course).

Samantha looked at the game and sighed, "I'm not really in the mood."

Hayden was a little disappointed.

"You don't even have to get up!" she said, "I'll move the table closer so all you have to do is smack the hippo!"

"Sorry, kiddo. Maybe tomorrow night," Samantha said, patting her sister on the head as she got up.

"You can be the pink hippo!" Hayden called as Samantha walked away. "I'll take the yucky yellow one!"

"Hey!" Summer frowned from the pool table before taking her shot.

Samantha shook her head, "Hayden, I don't wanna play now."

"What do you want to play?" Hayden asked, getting up off the floor and running over to her sister who had joined Scott by the pool table.

From the door, Kaylee watched the scene, shaking her head. She remembered when Hayden was little and how much time she had to devote to the small child, but she never remembered pushing anyone away like Samantha was doing to Hayden.

She could actually feel Hayden's desperation for time with her sister. After all, Kaylee had been in that same position with Tori, and as a result of it, grew to hate Blake. She knew first hand just how important it was that the big sister spend time with the younger one. After all, Samantha was a huge influence and role model for Hayden. Even before the two were reunited, Hayden wanted to be with her sister, and be just like her. Her affection for the colour pink was proof of that.

Being pushed away, even once, by an older sibling always hurt, and as much as one could understand why they weren't wanted, nothing could really ease that pain.

Samantha looked over at her sister, "I kinda just want to be alone," she answered.

"But... Sammy, you've been alone all day," Hayden frowned.

"I've been with Engel," Samantha laughed, understanding her sister's confusion. "I just need me time."

Summer looked up from the pool table and frowned. She looked over at Scott and Ziggy before dropping the stick on the table.

"Hayden, I'll play hippos with you and Greg," she offered. Hayden looked at her for a moment, smiling, before looking back at Samantha, wrapped in Scott's arms as the boy in red waited for his turn.

"You sure you'll skip out?" she asked.

"Maybe tomorrow night, Hay," Samantha smiled. Hayden nodded, disappointed at being cast aside again. She knew her sister loved her, no matter what, and she knew her sister was ready to do anything for her, but that didn't mean she could push Hayden away like this all the time.

Summer quickly stepped in, wrapping her arms around Hayden, "Who needs, Samantha?" she laughed. "She's not going to help you kick my ass!"

"Are you trying to tell me you're going to challenge the hippo champion?" Greg laughed as he set up the game by putting the balls in the arena.

"You, a champion?" Summer laughed, "Please, three weeks ago you asked me why hippos were eating balls."

"It didn't make sense!"

"Thanks what Dr. K said," Ziggy smirked.

"Well, whoever wins this game is the champion, deal?" Summer asked. Greg nodded, ready to play.

Summer looked over at Hayden and could see the disappointment in her face. She took her cousin's hand and smiled softly.

-----RPM-----

"I WIN!" Ziggy cheered as he counted his balls and realised he had won. Summer smiled, but groaned inwardly. She was growing tired of this game. Every night for two weeks she had to play it.

Ever since Samantha promised she would try and play with Hayden, the young Ranger had asked her sister every night. And every time she asked, she could receive the same answer.

_"Maybe tomorrow."_

Summer didn't want Hayden to feel left out, so she always offered to play the game, even if this was getting old.

"Let's play again!" Ziggy called.

Hayden shook her head, "I'm getting tired, and I don't want to accidentally sleep in tomorrow."

"You have to enjoy it to the fullest!" Summer grinned.

"Yep," Hayden nodded.

"Right, it's your birthday," Ziggy smiled, "Well, then, birthday girl. Good night I guess."

"I think we should all get some sleep," Greg suggested, rubbing his eyes. "It's getting late."

The others nodded, except for Samantha. She had taken a long nap during the day and it had thrown her slightly off schedule. While the others went to their rooms, (or for Dr. K and the twins, the lab), she sat on the couch, with the baby monitor in her hand.

Just outside, Kaylee was walking up to the door with Tori in tow. After watching her youngest daughter beg and plead for attention she wasn't getting she decided Samantha needed a good talk to realise she was on the verge of making a huge mistake.

Kaylee just finished explaining all this to Tori, before shoving her into the garage. Tori groaned at the force, but rolled her eyes. She walked to the couch and pulled the monitor out from Samantha's hands.

Kaylee walked in as well, keeping her distance from the two.

Tori looked at the monitor and frowned, "You know, Sammy, it works better when you turn it on."

Tori turned on the monitor and the first thing anyone heard was poor Engel crying for attention. Samantha groaned, realising her mistake.

"I got it!" Kaylee called, running to the bedroom before Samantha had a chance to argue.

Tori laughed gently, "What's up, kid. I've never seen you forget that before."

"I know," Samantha sighed, "I guess I just forgot. Probably because as soon as I put Engel down, Hayden asked me about the hippos."

"This game really is famous now," Tori laughed. She had been hearing all about the use of the hippo game from Mike. Every time he would come home now, there was always a story about those damn hippos.

"Only because Hayden's obsessed," Samantha groaned. "Every night she forces the others to play with her."

"Really?" Tori frowned, "Mike didn't tell me that part."

"She's always asking to play it, and starts sulking when no one will."

"So, she's acting like a brat?" Tori asked, "That doesn't sound like the Hayden I know."

"I know!" Samantha exclaimed, happy someone was taking her side. "Ever since I decided to care for Evangeline, she's turned into a giant baby."

"Whoa, whoa," Tori frowned, "Don't call your sister names."

"Sorry, but it's true."

"So, it started when baby Engel walked into the picture?" Tori asked.

"Yeah," Samantha nodded.

Tori looked down at the game, "Well, how about we play a game. Just you and me."

Samantha agreed, much to Tori's surprise. If everyone had been playing it all the time, like Samantha said, she figured Sam would be sick of this game.

She didn't bring it up though, and decided to start. Within seconds though, the game was over and it was obvious Tori had won.

"Wow, Sammy, I know this game doesn't take much skills, but you think you would be better after playing non-stop with Hayden," Tori said, smirking. She had been told that Samantha never played the game, but was hoping to get Samantha to say it.

"I don't play it," Samantha shrugged. "Everyone else does."

"Then why is Hayden so annoying with it?" Tori asked. She was getting exactly what she wanted out of the tired young mother.

"She keeps asking me to play it," Samantha sighed, "it's annoying."

"Why don't you play? Maybe she'll stop."

"I'm always so tired though," Samantha explained. "I'm up all day with the baby. I need a little me-time."

"Mike says you spend a lot of time with Scott, though," Tori frowned. "Why can't you and Scott play with your sister?"

"I hardly get to see Scott during the day! I don't want to have my baby sister around when I do spend time with him."

"Okay, that's understandable," Tori nodded. "I remember feeling the same way. When your uncle proposed to me, I wanted to spend every moment I could with him. I didn't want my little sister to ruin that."

"Exactly," Samantha breathed a sigh of relief. Finally someone who understood why she didn't want Hayden around her twenty-four seven.

"Yeah," Tori nodded, "Unfortunately, I spent all my time with Blake. I mean, when I was home Kaylee and I would eat together, or watch TV together, but aside from that, I wanted to be with Blake. I remember Kaylee was so annoying, back then too. She was always asking me to join her in games and stuff."

"Looks like Hayden's a lot like mom," Samantha laughed, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah," Tori smiled, "Anyways, I always told my sister no and would promise her we would spend time later, but every time I did she got mad at me and would be such a brat about it."

"Just like Hayden!"

Tori nodded again, continuing her story, "Then, one day, from out of nowhere, Kaylee really started hating Blake. She would tease him for no reason, mock him. Talk about him behind his back. Use him as curse words, if she wasn't cursing him. It was really weird."

"Why did that happen though?" Samantha asked. She already knew her mother wasn't very find of Blake, but she never really knew why.

"Back then, I had no idea. I thought Kaylee was being selfish. I kept thinking, _why does Kaylee always want to spend time with me. I see her all the time at home, and during training. She does know she can't spend every waking moment with me._"

"Exactly how I feel," Samantha smiled. This was why she loved having many aunts. There was always one of them who had a story she could relate too. "So, how did you get her to stop?"

"I didn't," Tori sighed, "Instead, I got really mad. And I purposely started pushing her away more, hoping she would get the message and leave me alone."

"Did it work?"

"Total back fire!" Tori laughed. "The most I pushed her away, the more she pushed back. But everything did work out in the end."

"How?"

"Well, when I finally snapped at her I broke her down," Tori said, remembering that day clearly. "I yelled at her with such power that she burst into tears right where she was standing."

"Ouch, Aunt Tori... that's a little harsh," Samantha frowned. She wasn't going to do that to Hayden. She didn't want to hurt her, she just needed a little alone time.

"Yeah, it was," Tori nodded. "Kaylee got really upset and stormed off. I remember, on the way to her room, she smashed a vase, knocked a picture off a wall and broke the frame, and slammed the door so hard the doorknob fell off."

"Did you go apologize?" Samantha asked. Tori shook her head.

"Not right away," she laughed. "No way was I going to step in her way! I walked away from it, let her calm down, before I decided to be the bigger person. After an hour I walked into her room and told her that I wasn't going to yell at her anymore, if she would just talk to me."

"I guess it sounds fair."

"Kaylee spoke to me, and when she was finished, I felt like the biggest idiot in the world."

Samantha furrowed her brows and looked up at her Aunt with a face that read "_HUH?"_

Tori chuckled, patting her niece's leg as she sat down next to her.

"I asked Kaylee why she was acting the way she was," Tori explained. "And she began ranting, just going on and on about what I had done and how it made her feel."

"What did you do?" Samantha asked.

"Kicked her aside," Tori explained. "I never understood until that night, that I had been pushing Kaylee away. You see, I kept thinking that because I see Kaylee at home every day, I didn't have to spend any more time with her. I mean, sure she saw me at dinner, and in front of the TV, but that's not fun, is it? When you go on dates with Scott, you like hanging out with him and talking, right?"

"Yeah," Samantha nodded.

"I realised that that's what I wasn't doing with Kaylee. I always told her maybe, or tomorrow. For years that's who she was living with. I was her only family, and I never made time for her."

"But you loved her, right?" Samantha asked, "And she knows that! You shouldn't have to prove it."

Tori breathed deeply before looking her niece in the eye, "I could walk up to anyone on the streets, right now, and tell them I love them," she started. "Saying it, and saying you mean it, can only go so far. When you love someone, I agree, you shouldn't have to prove it, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't."

"Huh?"

"When you love someone, be it a parent, a boyfriend, or the little sister who looks up to you, you should be spending all your time proving it to them."

"But you said..."

"Love's confusing, brat," Tori laughed. "But... I'll try to make it simple... you know Scott loves you right?"

"Yeah..."

"And he doesn't have to tell you, right?"

"No. I already know it."

"But he kisses you, right? He talks to you? Listens? Comforts you? Devotes his time to you?"

"Yeah," Samantha nodded.

"That's him proving it," Tori said, "And I'm sure you're doing the same. You don't have to do all that, but you still do. You still want to prove your love, because it's reassuring to the other person. With those actions, you actually add meaning to the words you say."

"I think I get it," Samantha said, looking at her Aunt.

"Alright then, we'll try another, just to make sure. You know I love Kaylee, right?" Samantha nodded and her Aunt continued, "How do I prove it to my sister and add meaning to my words?"

"Uh," Samantha thought for a moment, "You... you took care of her after your parents died... you... you..."

Tori saw Samantha was struggling and offered to help her.

"I do my job," she smiled. "I look out for her, I protect her, I listen to her, and I talk to her. She's someone I run to when I'm in trouble, and I let her come to me when she needs it. I offer my help when she needs it. I spend time with her, especially when she's feeling down."

Tori saw Samantha was nodding. Now that she understood, she wanted to see if Samantha could realise what she was doing wrong.

"Okay, so, tell me, has Hayden been proving herself to you?" she asked. "Do you know she loves you?"

"Of course," Samantha nodded. "She wouldn't want to always be with me if she didn't."

"Okay, and you've obviously proven yourself to Hayden, right?" Tori asked.

Samantha paused.

"You have been proving it to her, right?" Tori pressed.

"I... uh...yesterday I..."

Tori laughed, waving the baby monitor in front of Samantha. "Engel is your Blake."

Samantha raised her eyebrows, "You knew all along, didn't you?"

"Your mother told me you've been pushing her away for a long time now," Tori smirked. "She told me you spend time with three people, Engel, Scott and yourself."

"The others don't seem to mind it," Samantha frowned.

"I'm sure they do," Tori nodded. "And I'm sure Summer's tired of playing big sister. A role you should be doing, no matter what."

"She's not..."

"She's been playing Hungry, Hungry hippos for two weeks now," Tori frowned, pointing to the yellow hippo. It was easy to see the yellow one was worn down. The lever where Summer would smack the hippo was chipped in some places, and the hippo's mouth wasn't working like it used to. "Kaylee told me that every time you tell your sister no, Summer steps up."

Samantha thought. Her Aunt was right. Two weeks ago, when all this started, Summer stopped playing pool and went with Hayden and Greg to the hippos. The following night, she turned off the TV and joined Flynn and Hayden. The night after that, she cancelled a date with Dillon.

"She didn't have to do that..." Samantha sighed.

"No, she didn't," Tori agreed, "But you should be thankful she did. Imagine how clingy Hayden would have been if she had no stand in."

Samantha shuddered at the thought.

"Okay, thank god for Summer," she admitted.

Tori pulled her niece in for a hug, "You're lucky you realised this, Angel. Now you can make it up to Hayden."

Samantha nodded, feeling really guilty about this. For the past few weeks, she thought she was just trying to get some "me-time". She didn't know she was driving her friends and family away because of it. But now she had time to change it.

"Thanks Aunt T," Samantha smiled, kissing her Aunt's cheek. "You're the best."

"I know," Tori laughed. She patted her niece on the back and smirked, "Now, get your ass in bed so you're not too tired for Hayden's birthday."

"Oh shit!" Samantha groaned, "I don't have a present for her! I've been so caught up with the baby..."

"Just, be there," Tori smiled. "Everything will work out, I promise."

Samantha nodded, running to her bedroom to get some much needed sleep as Kaylee zwopped behind her sister. She was holding little baby Engel in her arms.

Tori turned around, "Did you hear that? I'm the best!" Tori boasted.

"Yeah, yeah," Kaylee laughed, shoving her sister playfully. "Just make sure you and that big head fit through the door."

"Ha-ha," Tori mocked.

"Hey, I'm already amazed that huge ass of yours fits through the garage doors," Kaylee teased, kicking her sister's butt.

"Oh, grow up, will you?" Tori laughed.

"Maybe," Kaylee pondered aloud, with a wide smirk on her face. "Tomorrow, I guess.... maybe tomorrow."

"You're such a pain, you know that?" Tori smiled.

"It's my job."


	48. The Dome Dolls

This was the first time Samantha would be present for her little sister's birthday, and she wasn't going to screw this up. Thankfully her talk with her Aunt allowed her to avoid that.

She dressed Engel up in the little dress Hayden got her and smiled at the baby.

"Today, you have to be a really good girl for me, okay?" Samantha smiled, cuddling the little girl. "It's Aunt Hayden's birthday, and I really need to spend time with her."

Engel cooed softly and smiled. Samantha smiled back, until Engel grabbed a chunk of hair in her hands and pulled with the force of a thousand Pai Zhuq masters.

"OW!" Samantha yelled, holding the child with one hand while trying to pull her hair out with the other. "Dear god, the one thing you can do at this age and it's painful for everyone but you!"

Engel giggled and smiled at her mother, not understand that she was not being praised. But Samantha couldn't be mad at the sweet child. She smiled again and hugged her.

"I guess I'll just have to cut my hair," Samantha teased.

"But pretty," Hayden smirked, walking into the room and seeing her sister. Samantha turned and smiled, before putting Engel down in her crib. She whispered to the baby.

"Be nice and I'll let you sleep without pyjamas again tonight."

Samantha turned to her sister and pulled her into a big hug, nearly squeezing the life out of her. Hayden was taken a little by surprise, seeing as it had been a while since her sister had done anything like that, but was very happy it happened.

"Happy birthday, short-stuff," Samantha grinned. Hayden smiled.

"Thanks," she said. "I just came in here to see Engel before finding the others. I thought you would be downstairs already?"

Usually, Samantha would be. Engel would have been fed half an hour before, and Samantha would have put her back to bed.

"Yeah, I know, but I decided to feed her now so she would be asleep when we were giving you presents," Samantha smiled.

"Cool," Hayden was beaming with joy. As much as she would have loved for her niece to be there for the presents, she loved it even more that her big sister wasn't going to be distracted by the baby.

"Yeah... well there was that, and I kinda do owe you a game of hippos," Samantha smirked. "You up to playing?"

If this continued, Hayden's face was going to stay stuck in that smile she wore. Her sister was finally making time for her. She nodded happily and Samantha pulled her downstairs to the couch to set up the game.

Elsewhere in the garage, Flynn was working on his hummer, with Summer, Dani and Dillon. The black ranger got behind the wheel while Flynn and Dani looked at the engine.

"Alright, show me what she's got," Flynn called as Dillon started the engine. Immediately oil flew up, squirting both the red head and the Scotsman in the face.

"Turn it off!" Dani yelled as Summer and Dillon chuckled. Flynn grabbed his rag to wipe his face. When he was done, he offered it to Dani so she could clean herself.

Summer continued to chuckled as Flynn turned to her.

"I've seen less holes in a screen door," he said.

"Oh, c'mon," Summer smiled playfully, "You just need to re-gasket the entire engine, change the filters and probably switch out a fuel pump."

Summer patted Flynn and Dani and the shoulder, using a playful tone as she spoke, making their job sound so much easier than it was.

"I'll get some tools," she laughed.

Flynn looked over at Dillon, who was laughing at his girlfriend's teasing of the two mechanics. Flynn and Dani glared at him, before Dani pulled something out of the engine, walked around to the left side of the car. Dillon locked the doors so she wouldn't be able to get in, but forgot to close the windows. That was all Dani needed as she threw the piece in her hand at the black Ranger and grinned.

"Ha-ha," she mocked.

Over in the kitchen, Ziggy was trying to teach Dr. K how to make a cake. He put a paper hat on her head as he started his explanation.

Dr. K looked up at the hat, before grabbing it and slamming it down on the table. As much as she liked Ziggy (though she wasn't ready to tell him), she would not be caught dead in this ridiculous hat.

Ziggy saw her pulled the hat off and grabbed it.

"It goes like that," he smiled, putting it back on her head, ignoring the look she gave him. Just as he turned back to the counter, Dr. K grabbed the hat again, pulled off the lid to the blender, and stuffed it inside. She put the lid back in, turned on the blender, and waited.

Ziggy watched as the paper hat was shredded to bits.

"Uh... we can skip the hat," he frowned.

"Okay, the key to any good cake, is chocolate!" he grinned. He ran to grab the chocolate on the other counter, while Dr. K turned her back to the work station.

Ziggy set the chocolate down then put his hand on Dr. K's shoulder.

"You need to pay attention," he told her. "This is kinda important."

"Where did you learn to cook?" Dr. K asked him.

"Prison, Ziggy grinned, recalling the memory. "I, uh, I worked the chow line and criminals would come from all walks of life to eat my meals and..."

As much as Dr. K loved Ziggy, he still annoyed her to no end. This time was no exception. She turned toe and walked before Ziggy could finish his story. He looked back at the fleeing doctor and frowned.

"Dr. K, come back here!" he called after her. "Dr. K... Dr. K!"

He took off after her, running into the lab just as Gemma, Scott and Gem ran into the garage. Gemma seemed full of energy after her morning jog, while the boys were wiped.

"What a perfect morning for a run!" she smiled, pulling off the light jacket she wore to keep out the cold.

"There's no way you beat us here!" Scott breathed.

"You must have taken a short cut!" Gem frowned.

Gemma looked at her brother and Scott, with a knowing look, as she took a bit of a cracker as an after-run snack.

Kaylee and Ronny were sitting in front of the TV, playing a video game as they waited for the birthday girl. Dustin, Mike and Christian, watched, cheering Kaylee on.

Ronny felt a little underappreciated at the realisation she had no fans. She nudged Kaylee, making her sent her car into the wall of the track.

"Cheater!" Kaylee called, losing her position in first as Ronny zoomed by.

"I didn't cheat," Ronny grinned. "I had an itch and it made me jumpy."

"It's true, I saw her trying to scratch it," Greg smirked, coming to Ronny's side to cheer her on.

"Liars!" Dustin called, pointing to both Ronny and Greg.

"I can't hear you, I'm too busy winning!" Ronny's car crossed the finish line, ending the game. Kaylee frowned, crossing her arms and dropping the controller.

"You fight dirty," she grumbled, before throwing her arms around her best friend. "I missed the old you!"

The alarm suddenly sounded, and Greg, along with the other Rangers, jumped up. Kaylee looked at Dr. K and the twins and saw they were already making their way to the lab.

"One more race, then we help," Kaylee laughed. Ronny nodded, and the game went on.

-----RPM-----

When the Rangers appeared in the city, Tenaya was blowing up a Grinder. She turned around as the Grinder was destroyed and saw her enemies in spandex.

"Perfectly predictable," she smirked, lowering her visor. "Attack!"

"You know," Hayden started, fighting the Grinders and looking at Tenaya, "it's my birthday. It would be nice if you showed up with cake, or ice cream or even a present."

"Oh, I have a present for you," Tenaya smiled, snapping her fingers as an attack-bot stepped out from around the corner.

"Straws?" Hayden frowned, looking at the straw-bot. "Aw, thanks Tenaya, but we've got a bunch in the kitchen."

"Nitro blaster, engine cell activate!" Flynn called as the others joined him and Hayden, once all the Grinders were down. The Rangers pulled out their blasters and aimed for the giant straw.

The all nine blasters didn't damage the attack-bot, but it did cause him to drop a bottle of red fluid on the ground. He fumbled around as he realised this, not seeing where the bottle landed. He panicked, and grabbed a bottle of purple fluid.

"Ew," Hayden frowned as he stuck a straw inside (the straw coming out of his mouth), and drank the contents before spraying it around him. It created a cloud of the same colour as the liquid, and when the cloud disappeared, so did he.

"Um, he got away," Summer stated, looking around. On the ground, a few feet away from her, was the red bottle the monster had dropped. She ran over to it and picked it up. She handed the bottle to Greg, "Think you can find out what it is?"

"I'll see if I can work on it," Greg nodded.

-----RPM-----

Somewhere in the city, close to the oxygen system, the straw-bot was running around. He pulled out two bottles from his belt, a yellow one and a pink one. He was supposed to use yellow and red, but he had lost red. He figured Tenaya wouldn't notice the difference between red and pink, and went with that.

He reached the oxygen system and pulled one of the tubes to dump the two different coloured liquids. If he remembered correctly, the yellow one would knock out the male population in the city and the pink one would knock out the population no longer in their "prime" (in other words, those who were no longer considered_ young_).

The red one, the one he had lost, was supposed to knock out the female population, rendering the entire city unconscious.

-----RPM-----

Due to the fight, present time had been moved to after lunch. Kaylee and Ronny were in the kitchen preparing it, while the rangers hung out in the base.

Samantha and Hayden were playing hippos, with Engel on Hayden's lap. Hayden had won the last few games, and Samantha was determined to beat her little sister, at least once.

Flynn looked over at his girlfriend and laughed, shaking his head, before handing a tool to Gemma. The two were working on upgrading the Road Attack Zord.

Over by the pool table, the rest of the Rangers watched as Summer prepared her shot. Scott laughed at the younger girl, knowing the shot was impossible. She had told Dillon, Scott and Gem that she could sink the rest of her balls with this one shot. To top it off, she was going to sink the black ball as well, but only once the others were all in.

Needless to say, the shot was next to impossible.

Mike walked over to his cousin, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, "No way are you going to make it."

She looked up at him. After all these years he should have known better.

"Watch and learn," she smiled.

As she shot, the boys began to feel faint.

Summer hit the cue ball, and it hit the rest, knocking all her balls, and only hers, into the pockets. Finally, it hit the last one, putting it in.

"My dad used to take me out and would bet guys I could beat them," Summer grinned, explaining her skills. "I always won. Don't tell my mother though. I wasn't allowed in any of those clubs for... reasons."

When she looked over at the four boys, they were passed out on the floor. The battle had been a little rough, but it was nothing compared to what they were used to.

She stepped around the pool table and looked down.

Mike, Gem, Scott and Dillon were all lying on the ground. Summer chuckled, but not because of that. She was laughing, because Dillon and Scott were holding hands.

"Alright, get up," she said, kicking Dillon's foot to wake him. He didn't even stir. "Um, guys, this isn't funny anymore," she frowned.

Flynn and Gemma looked over, seeing the boys on the ground. Flynn approached them with a confused look.

"Guys, are you..." Flynn started, before he too began to feel faint. He looked at Summer with a goofy grin. "Oh, Summer that's very pretty."

Suddenly, he fell. Summer tried to catch him, but he went down too quickly.

Kaylee and Ronny were in the kitchen, putting candles on the cake Ziggy had just finished, when they too passed out. Ziggy looked down at them and frowned.

"Um... you could do that, or we could serve lunch," he said before he was pulling into the lab by Summer and Gemma. Samantha, Dani and Hayden were right behind him.

The doors to the lab opened as Dr. K and Greg analysed the liquid Greg brought back from the battle.

"What the fuck?" Dani asked as the doors closed. "The guys, and my mom and Aunt K have all collapsed!"

"Asleep!"

Dr. K and Greg frowned, before Greg started swaying. Suddenly, he dropped.

"Do I stink?" Ziggy asked, lifting his arm to smell his pit. Dani frowned, pushing him away as a call came up on the monitor. It was Vasquez.

"_Dr. K, every man in the city has fallen asleep! Even the Colonel! Who's going to watch the shields? What are we going to do?"_

Summer shook her head, "Calm down, Vasquez."

"It's chromosomal!" Dr. K announced, bringing up files on the monitor for the girls and Ziggy to see. "The liquid you brought back is linked to the _XX_ chromosomes."

"Gender specific for girls," Gemma remarked.

Dr. K nodded, "That means the _XY_ toxins must have been released into the atmosphere."

"I'm no doctor... hell that option isn't even open for me... but why would my mom and Aunt Kaylee pass out if it's the _XY_ toxin thingy?" Dani asked, bringing up a good point.

"It was probably my birthday present from Tenaya," Hayden stated, remembering the attack bot had several bottles. "He must have used one for guys, and another for old people."

"Well, thank god we got the red one," Samantha nodded.

"Hey, this thing hasn't gotten all the men," Ziggy grinned. "I think it's because I'm so physically conditioned that..."

Ziggy stopped and turned to the girls, who were all watching him, just waiting for him to hit the ground like all the other men in the city. When he did, they just smiled and laughed. Good old Ziggy.

Vasquez spoke up once more, "_I don't know what to do."_

"Hey, snap out of it, we're far from helpless!" Summer assured the girl on the other end.

"We're just completely outnumbered," Gemma beamed. Summer looked at the older girl then nudged her roughly.

"Hold it together, Vasquez," Samantha smiled.

Vasquez nodded, before running over to the Colonel and trying desperately to wake him.

Daniela looked over at her oldest cousin and sighed, "Do you think she's going to hold it together?"

Dr. K watched Vasquez and rubbed her temples, "Zero probability."

"Hey, um, not to ruin any surprises or anything, but where's Dad and Christian?" Samantha asked, looking around.

"They went out to get a... you know... for the... you know," Summer frowned, trying to hide the secret from Hayden. The pink Ranger was standing between her cousin and sister with her arms crossed and a frown.

"You know, I can hear you, and I'm not stupid," she said.

"Look, Hayden and I will go see Vasquez and calm her down. Gemma, you go get Uncle Dustin and Christian and bring them and whatever they have with them back here," Summer ordered, taking the lead. "Dr. K, you... do whatever you normally do and Dani and Sam, go bring the boys in here so Dr. K can watch them."

The girls all nodded, getting to work.

Summer grabbed Hayden's arm, "C'mon birthday girl."

"But I want to draw!" Hayden frowned as she was dragged by her cousin out the door.

"Later, I promise!"

-----RPM-----

Summer helped Vasquez drag Hicks against the wall, so he wasn't in the way, while Hayden looked at the monitors. Just as Vasquez had said before, every man in the city was passed out.

"Summer, this isn't looking good," she said. "Shields are down, men are down, and all the women are panicking!"

Summer nodded, turning to leave with her cousin, before Vasquez stepped in the way.

"You're not leaving me here, are you?" she asked.

"We need to protect the city," Summer nodded, "You're in charge of the bio-sphere now."

"Me?" Vasquez asked, wide-eyed as she looked at the two girls. "But I don't want to be in charge."

"Listen," Hayden started, trying to put this gently, "We're six Rangers down, and we've got one... 'technician' unable to operate. Our mentor is napping in tuna and our head mechanic is using the bread. We need you! Corinth needs you! You can totally do this!"

"Okay," Vasquez smiled.

-----RPM-----

Gemma had gotten back from collecting Dusting and Christian, and got to work on finishing the upgrades for hers and Flynn's project. But with Flynn down and out at the moment, she was getting help from Dani.

Samantha was holding Engel, trying to stay calm as she worried about the boys.

Dr. K was working on an antidote in her lab. She was getting so close, but so far nothing was perfect.

Gemma and Dani ran into the room, with Samantha not too far behind. Gemma was holding the small Road Attack Zord in her hand.

"Modifications are complete!" she smiled.

"Unfortunately it can only be energized using Scott's engine cell," Dani added.

"And I've got the first version of the antidote," Dr. K announced, grabbing a spray bottle filled with liquid. "But there's only a 52% probability for success."

"So, question is, who do we test it on?" Samantha asked. The four girls looked at each of the boys.

Scott wasn't an option. Not only was he team leader, but Samantha, his girlfriend, would never allow Dr. K to test something on him, especially when she still needed help for the baby.

That also meant Mike was a no-go.

They couldn't do it on Flynn, because he too had a girlfriend, and it was her birthday. If something went wrong and something bad happened to him, they would be to blame for the shit birthday of the year.

Dillon was a definite no.

Gem was a candidate. After years of working as test subjects in the soup, his body was more conditioned for this, but Gemma, nor K wanted to risk it.

There was Greg as well, but he was Dr. K's best friend. That was another no.

"Oh, Dr. K, I'm not that strong," Ziggy laughed in his sleep, turning the girls attention to him. Dr. K got a wicked smile on her face.

Samantha, Dani and Gemma looked at the doctor. They all knew about her crush, and thought it was kind of cold to test it on him.

"Dr. K..." Samantha laughed.

"Well, someone's got to be the dummy," Dr. K shrugged, holding the bottle over his face. "And after all, he is so _physically conditioned_."

"Whatever," Dani shrugged, kneeling next to Dr. K as she sprayed the liquid on Ziggy's face. He woke up, breathing heavily and looking over at Dr. K and Dani.

"I had the strangest dream," he smiled. He reached up, taking Dr. K's hand, "We... we were on a date."

Dr. K pulled back a little, taking her hand away and frowning, "That sounds... awkward."

Suddenly, Ziggy passed out.

Summer and Hayden ran into the lab, finding Dr. K and Dani over Ziggy, while Samantha and Gemma were laughing.

"Any luck?" Summer asked.

"Luck is an abstract concept that ignores skill," Dr. K started, before looking at the strange faces she was receiving. She figured it was best to answer Summer's question. "But, since you asked... no."

The monitor behind Summer and Hayden turned on, and Kira popped up on the screen. She was supposed to be wishing Hayden and happy birthday, but forgot all about that when she saw the snooze-fest going on.

"_Um, pre-party nap?"_ she asked.

"Mom?" Summer frowned, "What are you doing?"

"I... it was... birthday... Hayden!"

"I didn't do it! I swear!" Hayden said, jumping back, dropping the marker in her hands and pulling away from Dillon.

"_Okay, what's going on?"_ Kira frowned. Hayden walked back over to the monitor, with the rest of the girls, while Summer tried to explain.

"There was a straw, you see, and it kinda made the boys and Aunt Ronny and Aunt Kaylee fall asleep... but we're working on it."

"_A straw?"_ Kira sighed, _"Well, it's better than that damned personality rock."_

"Aunt Kira, you don't have to worry about a thing," Dani assured the Rockstar. "We've got this all under control."

"Yeah," Gemma grinned, "All men are asleep, the shields are down, no one but us is protecting the city and we just sprayed Ziggy with untested and possibly harmful chemicals!"

Summer nudged Gemma again, trying to keep her quiet.

Kira frowned. She was not impressed.

"_I'm sending back up,"_ she sighed.

"NO!" all the girls yelled. Kira jumped back in her seat. Dr. K decided to explain.

"If you send help here, not only will it alert Venjix of trouble, but it will also make your city defenceless. The best thing to do right now is lay low and..."

"Who farted?" Daniela asked, holding her nose.

"It's not a fart, it's the baby," Samantha answered.

"_Baby?" _Kira frowned.

"Um, eww, change her!" Gemma said as all the girls stepped away.

"_Baby?"_

"I will, just, hold on!"

"_Baby?"_

The alarms sounded, alerting the girls of trouble.

"Aunt Kira, we gotta go. Don't worry, we've got this all under control!" Hayden assured her Aunt before turning off the monitor.

In Newtech, Kira turned to the Rangers. They were standing behind her, waiting for their chance to wish Hayden a happy birthday.

"A baby?" Samantha asked her mother.

"Someone had a baby?" Bridge frowned.

"It better not be my sister," Samantha growled. "I'm going to kill that sick, little spandex wearing, brooding bad boy's ass!"

"Now, now, let's not jump to conclusions," Kira said, trying to stay calm. "That's your father's job. We'll call them back tonight to check up on them then ask about the baby."

-----RPM-----

"The guards in the eastern quadrant must be asleep," Dr. K announced to the girls, looking at the monitors where she was seeing signs on Venjix activity. "The shields have been breached."

Summer, Hayden and Dani exchanged worries looks. They knew they could hold down the fort on their own, but fight off a Venjix attack-bot and Tenaya (who always accompanied them), they didn't think they could do that on their own.

"Sister bonding time!" Hayden called, latching onto her sister's arm, inviting her to join the battle.

"You two think you're up to this?" Summer smirked.

"Awesome!" Gemma beamed.

"We're going to need a better ride though," Dani frowned, looking at the cars. "Something cool, something we can all fit in."

"I have a car," Hayden pointed.

"Something that Hayden won't drive," Summer added to Dani's list of _somethings._

The yellow Rangers looked around before her eyes landed on her boyfriend's car. She had always wanted to drive it, but he never let her.

"Hey, Dillon, if you don't want us to use your car, speak up!" Summer called.

Naturally there was no answer.

"Okay, but you understand the risks, right?" Summer called again. "If you don't, just let me know."

Again, no answer.

"He understands," Summer assured the girls, who were all giggling.

Dr. K stepped out of the lab and cleared her throat. Summer turned, a little nervous.

"Doc, it's an emergency," she told the young doctor, thinking she was going to scold Summer about the car.

"I don't care which vehicle you take," Dr. K pointed out. "I do, however, find myself caring about what you're going to do about Evangeline."

Samantha looked down at the baby in her arms, sleeping soundly. Her gaze shifted to Dr. K as she pondered the thought.

Suddenly, she thrust the baby in Dr. K's arms and squished herself into the back seat of the car, between Dani and Gemma. Summer and Hayden jumped in, in the front, and Summer put the key in the ignition. The car sped off, and Dr. K was left alone with the little baby.

-----RPM-----

Summer stopped the car not too far away from the battle as she and the other girls crawled out. Standing at the head of the group, she looked back at her family.

"You guys ready?" she asked.

"I'm always ready!" Gemma clapped her hands together and bounced excitedly.

"Ready," Hayden and Dani nodded.

"Um, Summer, do we have a plan?" Samantha asked. "I don't mean to undermine your ability as leader, or even doubt the fact that girl can kick ass, but..."

Summer put her morpher to her mouth, "Vasquez, are you ready?"

"_Not quite,"_ came the reply. Summer frowned, looking back at the Rangers.

"Just... uh, follow my lead," she said.

"You can't possibly win!" Tenaya called, smirking. "You're completely outnumbered."

"Then this won't take very long!" Summer smiled.

"Let's make history," Tenaya said, sending the Grinders into battle.

Hayden looked over at Gemma, "Mind starting off my birthday battle with a bang?" she asked. Gemma nodded happily, pulling out a remote before charging into battle, alone, against the Grinders. The girls watched as she stuck little chips onto each of them.

"One..." Hayden called.

"Two..." Dani continued.

"THREE!" Summer and Samantha grinned before Gemma pulled out from the battle and pushed the button on the remote. The Grinders were suddenly caught in an explosion and were ripped apart as mechanical pieces fell from the sky.

Tenaya groaned, running into battle against the Rangers, while Gemma and Samantha took on the straw-bot.

"Ready?" Summer called, looking at her Rangers.

"Ready!" the two girls nodded.

"RPM, Get in Gear!"

A new army of Grinders appeared, bringing new trouble for the Rangers as they tried to keep Tenaya off and destroy the Grinders.

-----RPM-----

Dr. K was also swamped with responsibility. Between the screaming Engel, the antidote and monitoring the girls in battle (who weren't doing so well as Grinder kept multiplying), she was struggling to stay on task.

She jsut finished pouring the antidote in another spray bottle and looked at the computer screen.

"Probability: 70%... not enough," she sighed.

-----RPM-----

The girls were managing to keep the monsters from gaining too much of the upper hand, but they were falling fast with the numbers against them. Tenaya seemed to notice as she kept calling for Grinders.

Now, Gemma and Samantha were dealing with the monster and Grinders.

Summer, Dani and Hayden were suddenly thrown into the other two girls as all five of them fell to the ground. Summer coughed, grabbing her morpher.

"Vasquez..."

"_I'm ready!"_

"Thank GOD!" Summer breathed, "Initiate operation city storm!"

Within moments the blue sky and white fluffy clouds in the virtual sky turned black and lightning struck down, taking out all the Grinders.

Tenaya threw her hand in the air, taking the power from the lighting and converting it into her own power. Suddenly, she threw it at the girls.

The Rangers jumped in front of the others, using their suits to protect themselves from the blast. Unfortunately that was all they could take as they powered down.

Vasquez flipped a switch, causing a tornado to appear near the Rangers. As the winds picked up, the girls and Tenaya grabbed onto something solid to keep them grounded.

The monster, remaining Grinders and the hood of Dillon's car were all picked up and thrown across the city.

Hayden's grip on a street pole slipped, and she was pulled towards the tornado. Thankfully Samantha saw this and let go of the car she was holding onto. She flew right into Hayden, knocking her into a wall, where the two grabbed onto a window sill.

"Not losing the birthday girl," Samantha groaned, holding onto the sill and her sister.

"Don't plan on getting lost," Hayden smiled.

Suddenly, the sky returned back to blue as the tornado and lightning stopped. Obviously Vasquez couldn't allow there to be any more damage to the city.

-----RPM-----

"What am I missing?" Dr. K growled in anger, slamming her hand onto the keyboard as Engel screamed even louder. Dr. K put the baby in the crib and ran back to the computer. She tried a different combination of chemicals and suddenly found the antidote.

"Yes!" she cheered, running to the spray bottle and picking it up. She squirted Gem, Dillon, Scott, Flynn, Greg and Mike only, knowing the girls needed help on the battle field.

"What happened?" Scott asked, wiping the liquid from his face.

"You have all been infected with a gender and age specific airborne toxin that increased your levels of serotonin, rendering you... unless," Dr. K explained. "But there's no time to explain."

Dr. K ran over to Ziggy, squirting him in the face, before handing Scott the Road Attack Zord wheel.

"Gemma calibrated you for the Road Attack Zord," she said, "You shouldn't have any more problems."

"Where are the girls?" Flynn frowned, looking around.

"Currently in battle against the straw-bot and Tenaya," Dr. K picked up the spray bottle again and ran over to Dustin, Christian, Ronny and Kaylee. She figured the boys wouldn't hesitate once they heard the girls were in a fierce battle.

-----RPM-----

Tenaya slowly made her way over to the girls, levelling her blaster at them and smiling.

"How sweet, your last memory will be of me," she smiled.

Suddenly, she was thrown to the side by a blast from nowhere. Curious, the girls looked around, but didn't see anything that would attack Tenaya.

Tenaya seemed to catch sight of it though and growled.

The girls watched her curse whatever it was that had attacked her, until they heard the familiar voice of the boys.

"Girls!" they all called, running over to their girlfriends, (or sister), while Ziggy stood in front of all of them.

"Hey, Tenaya, stay away from our women!" Ziggy yelled, holding his hands out to protect the five girls. Everyone glared at him, and Ziggy could feel the eyes burning in the back of his helmet.

"_Our_ women?" Dillon asked, wrapping his arms around Summer.

"I mean... not our like ownership... our team!" Ziggy stammered.

"So... we all share these girls?" Greg asked, holding Dani. "Last I checked, you didn't have a girlfriend, Zigster."

"I meant our like... the girls in our city... like... not ownership or shared dating or... or..."

Summer rolled her eyes, stepping forward and smirking at Tenaya, "Now who's outnumbered?"

Tenaya turned and walked away, sulking like she usually did when she didn't get her way.

Gemma smiled and looked around, before noticing that Scott and Mike were missing.

"Where's Scott and Michael?" she asked, touching Dillon's arm. He looked over at her with a smile.

"Other side of town, kicking ass."

-----RPM-----

The Road Attack Zord, now a mini Megazord on its own, jumped in the air, kicking the Straw-bot to the ground before turning back into a wheel and landing in front of Scott. It charged up, rolling in place, before being pushed forward by Scott. Mike held the bot in place, until the wheel was close enough and he jumped out of the way.

The bot took the attack dead on as he was thrown into the sky and destroyed.

Mike and Scott cheered, high-fiving and powering down.

-----RPM-----

Before the party, the Rangers had to awaken the rest of the city. Ziggy was out with Hayden and Flynn to accomplish that job.

As they got to the oxygen tank, Ziggy spoke.

"Wait, wait, with all the men asleep, and only the women under thirty left, this city is going to be crawling with hot chicks! It's going to be like shooting fish in a barrel."

Hayden gave the L-Green Ranger a disgusted look, while Flynn shook his head and laughed. Ziggy realised he was out of line and nodded.

"I'm... I'm just saying."

Hayden dumped the antidote into the system and smiled. Slowly it would go around the city and everything would be back to normal.

"Now, let's get you back to this party!" Flynn smiled as Hayden hopped on his back.

-----RPM-----

"Where's my hood?" Dillon asked as he looked over his car after learning the girls had taken it for a spin.

Summer and Dani walked into the garage, carrying it in their hands.

"We found it!" Summer smiled. They dropped the crumbled and broken hood on the ground.

The boys were laughing at Dillon's misfortune, while he tried to keep himself from hitting his girlfriend. She looked at him with that damned smile, the one he could never get mad at.

"Wow, that must have been one really, really cool fight!" Gem grinned.

"It was!" Gemma nodded.

"Don't worry," Flynn laughed, holding Hayden in his arms as he looked down at the hood again, "We'll take the dents out, give it a fresh coat of paint and it'll be good as new."

"I don't want it like new, I want it how it was," Dillon growled, keeping his look away from Summer. He knew if he saw her, he would give in.

"All in the line of duty," Hayden chirped.

"Oh, I know," Summer smiled. "He understands."

"Don't ever drive my car," Dillon warned his girlfriend, daring to look into her eyes.

"Don't fall asleep on the job, and I won't have to," Summer grinned.

"C'mon, they needed a ride and did the right thing," Scott smiled, patting his friend on the back while everyone else went to give Hayden their present.

"Oh, and how is driving my car into a tornado the right thing to do?" Dillon asked.

"Probably because they didn't take mine," Scott laughed.

"Or mine," Mike added, following Scott to the couches to join Hayden. "Definitely the right choice."

-----RPM-----

"Hey booger," Samantha whispered, crawling into her sister's bed just as the brunette was about to fall asleep. Hayden rolled over and smiled at her sister as she was pulled into a hug. "Sorry I didn't get you anything, but with the baby and..."

"I don't care," Hayden smiled, "You were there."

"Yeah, but I feel bad. You've been feeling left out by me and the one chance I have to make it up to you I can't. I royally screwed up."

"Royally?" Hayden laughed. "Sammy, you played the hippo game with me, we kicked straw-ass, you saved me from a tornado and you're apologizing! You didn't really do anything yet."

"I know... but..."

"But nothing," Hayden hushed her sister and held her tight. "You're my sister and you showed me you care. That's really all I want. This bear, the gift cards, the gadgets I got today, those are just gifts."

"Yeah..."

"I love you, Sissy Sammy," Hayden smirked, poking her sister's stomach. Samantha laughed, wrapping her arms around her sister and squeezing her.

"I love you too, brat," she said, "But I still want to make it up to you. Tomorrow you and I are going to hang out, all day, just the two of us. Nothing's getting in the way."

"What about Engel?" Hayden asked. She would understand if Engel had to tag along. After all, she was only a baby and needed someone to care for her.

"Mike's going to watch her," Samantha smiled. "She'll be there when I get home, that I know. You on the other hand I'm afraid I might lose."

"You won't lose me..."

"I almost did," Samantha said, thinking back on her talk with her Aunt. "Believe me, if I wasn't set straight, I could have ripped our friendship apart."

"You can't lose me," Hayden giggled. "I'm like a leech. I'll stick myself onto you and never let go until _I'm_ satisfied."

Samantha rolled her eyes before fluffing her pillow. Hayden looked at her curiously.

"You're not sleeping here," she frowned.

"Yahuh," Samantha nodded. "My bed's too far."

"It's right there," Hayden said, pointing to the pink bed next to hers. Samantha looked over her shoulder and sighed.

"But that involves moving."

Hayden pushed her sister, trying to knock her out of her bed.

"Get out!" she frowned.

"No!" Samantha laughed, fighting her sister.

"Move your big butt out of my bed!"

"GIRLS!" Kaylee's voice called from her bedroom, hushing the two girls. They stopped their arguing, keeping quiet for a moment. When the moment was done, they laughed silently.

"Okay, fine, you can sleep here," Hayden whispered, "But no hogging the bed."

"Too late," Samantha spread her arms out, hitting her little sister in the face. Hayden went to argue, but Samantha spoke first. "I'm older, taller and more growned up. I deserve more room."

"Growned?" Hayden laughed.

"Yep, growned. Now shut up, baby sis and go to sleep."


	49. Skeletons

"Hmm," Hayden thought as she sipped her milkshake and looked around. She and her sister were hanging out for the day as a birthday present and while getting ice cream, they decided to play truth or dare. Samantha chose dare. "I dare you to..."

"Come on, Hayden!" Samantha groaned when her sister paused again. "Can you please just choose something?"

"I dare you to... to... to..." Hayden's face lit up as she got an idea. She spit her milkshake back into her glass and offered it to her sister. "Finish my loogieshake."

Samantha looked down at the glass, regretting her choice of dare. Maybe she still had the option to switch.

"I choose truth," she said.

"Have you and Scott...?"

"Loogieshake it is," Samantha frowned, grabbing the glass and downing it in record time. Hayden laughed as her sister pulled away from the glass in disgust and gagged. "That was horrible!"

"You're the best sister," Hayden smiled, patting her sister on the shoulder. Samantha could only glare at her little sister as she put the money down on the table and grabbed her stuff for the walk home.

"Yeah, yeah, I have to be," she teased. Hayden laughed, grabbing her RPM jacket and throwing it on. The two girls walked out of the ice-cream shop, poking each other, until Samantha suddenly stopped, dropping her car keys on the ground. She stood with a look of horror on her face.

Hayden looked back at her sister, only realising she had stopped walking after taking a few steps. She saw her sister's look and frowned.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked. Samantha simply grabbed her sister and pulled her behind a large tree growing from a spot of dirt in the sidewalk (Corinth's way of "going green").

"I knew the break up was too... ish," Samantha started, but was at a loss of words. She couldn't even describe how her break up had gone. Hayden tilted her head and her eyebrows shot up. Samantha noted the confused face so she turned and pointed to the boy across the street, texting with his phone.

"Is that...?" Hayden started, until Samantha's phone vibrated. She picked it up and looked at the message. Hayden looked over her shoulder and read it out loud.

"Hey babe, we need to talk," Hayden frowned. "Ew, he calls you babe?"

"Shit, shit, shit!" Samantha cursed, hitting her head repeatedly with her fist.

Hayden shrugged, "Just, ignore him. Maybe he'll go away."

Samantha's phone vibrated again, and the older Brooks look down at her brunette sister.

"I hate you so much," she frowned. She opened her phone and read the message. "Babe, I know what I did was wrong. Please come back. I love you."

"Ooh!" Hayden laughed, poking her sister in the ribs, "Scott's not going to like this!"

"Shut up!" Samantha snapped. "This isn't funny."

"Give it here," Hayden smirked, taking her sister's phone and looking at Kyle's number. She programmed it into her phone, causing her sister to give her the confused look. "Just watch."

Hayden started to text, and when she was done, she showed it to her sister.

"Hiiigabajybotaguinda?" Samantha asked, reading the word slowly and carefully to get it right. She looked over at her sister and frowned. "What the fuck?"

"Hopefully that's what he'll say," Hayden laughed, hitting send then looking over at Kyle to see his reaction.

Hayden watched Kyle as he received the message and frowned. He looked at the number, but didn't recognise it. He checked around, looking for someone who would be pranking him, but didn't see anyone suspicious.

He then went back to texting, and soon, Hayden's phone vibrated. The brunette picked it up and read it to her sister.

"WTF," she laughed. "YES! It worked!"

"Okay, so you got his attention, now what?" Samantha asked. Hayden hushed her sister and continued to harass the ex boyfriend.

_LEAVE HER ALONE, ANGEL BOY!_

Samantha read the text and laughed. This would surely confuse him. Hayden presented her the phone so she could have the honour of pressing send.

"And now, we walk," Hayden smiled. Samantha laughed, wrapping her arm around her sister's shoulder as they continued down the street.

-----RPM-----

"Leave her alone, Angel boy?" Kyle frowned, reading the message he received from the mystery person. How on earth would he know he was an Angel?

Unless, it was one of Samantha's friends!

He growled, slamming his phone shut and stuffing it in his pocket. Her put his helmet on and started his bike. He looked around once more for someone strange, but couldn't see anyone.

"I guess I'll just go to her then," he said.

-----RPM-----

"Engel, where did you go?" Mike said with a laugh as he held his hands over his eyes. Engel was lying on the ground, on a blanket, looking up at her father with a huge smile painted on her face. Suddenly, Mike pulled his hands away and gasped happily. "Ooh, I found you!"

Engel laughed in pure joy as she kicked her little legs and reached for Mike. He smiled down at her, before hiding his eyes again.

"Uh-oh, where did you go?" he asked her. Engel's smile fell as her father disappeared. Mike pulled his hands away and laughed, "There you are!"

Dr. K was watching this, totally unimpressed. She shook her head and frowned.

"No wonder Samantha never leaves you alone with the baby," she said. "You can't seem to keep track of an immobile and loud infant."

"It's a game, Dr. K," Mike assured the scientist. She shook her head.

"A game would be like those strange hippos and their irregular diet. Losing a child every three seconds is not a game."

"I'm not losing her, I'm pretending," Mike tried to explain, but Dr. K did as she always did. She twisted his words until everyone paying attention, including her, was lost.

"So, you're pretending to lose the child your responsible for? Which would mean you're pretending to have bad parenting skills and turning it into a game this child will learn so that she will, one day, pass those skills down when she has her own child, and you will be doomed to generations and generations of horrible parents?"

Mike frowned, "No..."

"Or, you're showing your daughter you cannot keep an eye on her, so when she grows up, she'll remember this day and remember that her father, the one person in her life that's supposed to protect her, has a strange habit of losing her frequently. Therefore she believes you never know her whereabouts, which according to this _game_ you do not, and she'll think she can go off anywhere and do anything."

"Dr. K..."

"Or, she'll grow up afraid because Daddy doesn't love her enough to keep a close eye on her."

Mike picked Engel up and held her close, "Umm, I think I'll go feed her now."

Mike ran out of the room in a panic, making his way to the kitchen in the garage to get Engel's bottle. He pulled it out of the fridge and heated it up.

"Okay, Engel, next time we play that game, let me know when Aunt Dr. K gets in the room, okay?" Mike whispered to the baby. Engel looked up at her father, before hitting him with her little fist. Mike nodded.

"Thank you."

Mike held Engel in his arms as he fed her the milk and moved to the door as he heard a knock. He found it odd that someone would knock on the door to the Ranger base, but figured it must have been a solicitor or someone who had been living in a box for the past three years.

"Who's there?" Mike asked, pressing the button on the speaker. Naturally, he wasn't going to open the door before knowing who was on the other side. He and the other Rangers had many enemies that could knock on the door with the intention of entering the base and causing harm.

"_I need to talk to Samantha Brooks, is she there?"_

"I need to know who this is," Mike pressed.

"_It's Kyle, her boyfriend."_

_Kyle?_ Mike thought. _Scott's her boyfriend._

"She's not here," Mike frowned, hoping this creeper would leave. "Who are you, really? She doesn't have a boyfriend named Kyle?"

"_Well, she used to. Where is she?"_

"Up my ass!" Mike yelled, releasing the button and moving away from the door with a grin on his face. "Danger averted," he smiled to himself.

The person on the other side of the door started pounding loudly. Engel didn't seem to like it too much as she dropped her bottle and screamed.

"LET ME IN!" the man on the other side yelled.

"Whoa... not averted," Mike said as the other Rangers ran in to see who was making the loud noise.

Dani walked over to the door and punched it, making an equally loud noise, before yelling.

"SHUT UP!"

The pounding stopped, and Dani grinned.

"All in the wrist," she said.

"Just wait for it," Mike frowned. Dani looked over her shoulder at the door, before Kyle started slamming on it again. She jumped and ran back over to Greg and her mother.

"He wants to make noise, I'll show him noise," Summer smirked. She stepped in front of Mike, keeping the baby behind her before screaming. Her ptera scream ripped through the base, hitting the door and causing a loud echo noise the travel through it.

When Summer was done, the room fell silent. Even Engel had stopped screaming to look up at her Aunt Summer.

Summer smirked and turned to the baby to take her.

Kyle, on the other hand, was persistent. He knew he was getting nowhere with the knocking, and decided on a different approached.

He stepped back and grinned, "Free the snake!"

The snake emerged from its master's body and flew right into the door, denting it greatly. From the inside, the Rangers watched.

Kaylee didn't like this. She pulled the Rangers back and looked over at the boom-twins.

"Set up the garage for a lockdown."

They saluted before running over to the TV area. They knelt down in front of an old VCR and started pushing buttons.

Kaylee turned to Ronny, "Take everyone into the lab."

Ronny nodded, pushing everyone into the lab as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately it wasn't fast enough. The snake hit the garage door again, breaking into the garage as Kyle jumped in. He called his spirit back and wiped his hands on his pants before looking up.

"Sorry about the door. I hope you don't mind," he said.

Everyone frowned. Was this kid serious? He blew a hole in the door, created a huge disturbance and threatened the safety of the Ranger team, and he thought they wouldn't mind?

"The door's the least of our worries," Dillon frowned.

Kyle shrugged, "That's good, I guess," his eyes searched the room, before landing on the small baby.

He was an Angel, and like Samantha he kept up on what was happening in the spirit world. He knew Engel had died a horrible death at the hands of Dai Shi, and he knew that, as a result of Samantha destroying Dai Shi, Engel was back to being a human baby.

The baby in the blonde girl's arms must have been Engel. Who else in this city would care for her if not her own family.

"Master Engel?" he frowned. Summer held the baby tight and moved behind Dillon. He knew she was scared for the baby and cracked his knuckles.

"Alright, short stuff," he said, advancing on the smaller boy, "You have three seconds to get out."

"Look, I just need to know where Samantha is," Kyle said, putting his hands in the air to show the Rangers he meant no harm. "Just tell me where and I'll be on my way."

"What happened to the door?" a voice came as two figures hopped into the base using the giant hole in the garage door.

Kyle perked up and turned around, spotting Samantha and Hayden.

"Sammy!" he smiled.

"Kyle?" Samantha frowned, spotting her ex boyfriend. Now Scott was watching this boy carefully. He knew who he was. It was Samantha's ex boyfriend; the one who didn't care about her anymore than he cared about the dirt under his feet.

"Did you get my messages, babe?" he asked the blonde. Samantha looked over at the hole in the door then at her phone and finally back at Kyle.

"Uh, yeah...?"

"Awesome!" Kyle smiled, "So wanna hook up?"

"Ew!" Hayden frowned, plugging her ears. Kyle frowned at the girl, before recognising her.

"Hey, you're the little sister!" he smiled. "I thought you were blonde before..."

"I was, but then I died, came back to life, dyed my hair brown, kicked my ex boyfriend's ass and won our morphers back! It was great. I wouldn't mind reliving it, with you in the picture, on the other end of my fist."

Hayden's expression changed from perky to dark and threatening as she said this. She glared at Kyle, who looked back at her, unfazed.

"Brown?" he said. "Come on, that's a dark shade of red!"

"Two points!" Dani laughed, throwing her hands in the air. "Now will you admit it, Hay. Your hair is red, R-E-D, red! Like pink but with less white or like crimson but with less black!"

Ronny stepped on her daughter's foot, while Greg nudged her in the ribs. Both looked down at her with a face that said, "_Not now_."

"Okay, okay," Dani frowned.

Kyle ignored the little banter and looked over at Samantha.

"I want you back," he told her in a tone that implied this statement was a demand instead of a plea.

"I want you gone," Samantha growled. "You're a two-timing, selfish, low-life, good for nothing, pig-headed creep!"

Samantha grabbed Kyle roughly by the shirt and slammed him against the garage door.

"Leave me alone," she whispered, before throwing him on the ground. Kyle quickly got off, dusting his pants off and looking back at the Ranger family.

"Okay, I'm gone," he said, throwing his hands up and stepping out the door, completely humiliated and embarrassed. After all, he was Kyle! He was an Angel for crying out loud! He was the best man any woman could ever find. How dare Samantha reject him like that?

How dare she reject him at all?

Kyle wasn't going to take this sitting down. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked down the street, hoping to come up with a plan that would win Samantha back.

Well, whether it was a win or retrieval by force, Kyle didn't care. As long as she was back.

Back at the base, the Rangers and mentors were looking at the giant hole in the door.

"That is going to cause some security problems," Ziggy pointed out. All eyes looked down at him, and he shrunk away, "Well, at least I'm honest, right?"

Dustin, who was coming to the garage to spend the night with his family, walked up to the door. He saw the hole and frowned. He looked through it, spotting his wife on the other end.

"Um, I don't know if you noticed, honey, but there's a giant hole in the front door," he pointed out. "You may want to get it fixed."

"Thank you, Dustin, I'll get right to work on that," Kaylee nodded, frowning as Dustin placed his hand on the security panel to open the door. It slid open, creaking a little, and Dustin stepped inside before it closed again.

"Um, you could have just used the giant hole," Flynn frowned, "Everyone else has so far."

"I didn't want to piss Kaylee off anymore than she already is," Dustin whispered to the blue Ranger, pointing over his shoulder to his wife who was fuming in anger as she looked at the hole.

"Yeah, great job, dad," Hayden rolled her eyes and used a sarcastic tone while patting her dad on the back. "You really avoided the wrath of the angry mom."


	50. Accusations

"Hush little Engel, don't say a word, Aunt Hayden's going to buy you a mockingbird," Hayden sung to her young niece as she held the child in her arms and rocked her to sleep. Engel had been sleeping for the past few minutes, but Hayden kept doing her job, just to ensure the baby was fully asleep. "If that mockingbird won't wing, Hayden's going to buy you a..."

Hayden saw something move across the window and frowned. It was a large shadow, and it looked a lot like the form of a human. Normally, Hayden would assure it was just someone outside on the streets, but she was on the second story. There were no people crossing, nor shadows.

"Diamond ring..." Hayden continued to sing as she moved over to the window to look out. Her heart was racing a mile a minute. She turned, so her back was facing the window and she was between it and Engel.

Suddenly, something hit the glass. Hayden nearly screamed, but kept herself from doing so for the baby's sake. She put Evangeline down in her crib, making sure she was still asleep, before going back to the window.

She opened it slightly; "Who's there?" she called.

There was no answer. Hayden ran to the nightlight and turned it off so she could get a better view of the outside.

Without light, Hayden was extremely cautious as she made her way back to the window. She was shaking as she dragged her feet across the floor, looking around everywhere.

"It was just a squirrel," she told herself, finally reaching the window. "There's no one there."

She looked around outside and didn't see anyone, or anything. She breathed a sigh of relief as she turned to the crib and looked down.

"Aunt Hayden was really scared for a second," she whispered to the baby.

As Hayden spoke softly to the child, a hand appeared on the window sill and slowly pushed the window open wider. Another hand grabbed on to the sill now that there was no window blocking it, and slowly, a masked man pulled himself up. He quietly dropped into the room and saw his plan had backfired.

When he had first checked inside the room, he had seen someone with the baby. He figured it was the mother and that if he tossed something at the window, she would put the baby down and go outside to check.

He hoped that he would be able to sneak into the room while she was making her way downstairs, and he would grab the baby. Then when she was outside and found there was no one, she would head back into the house. That would be the all clear for him to grab the baby and run.

Unfortunately, the red head in denial was in the room, talking softly to the baby. Now there was no way he could grab the child without there being a witness. Granted, he had a mask on, so if she did look at him, there would be nothing to report to the other Rangers, but he didn't want to take the chance of blowing everything.

Hayden was leaning over the crib, completely unaware there was a man in a mask standing right behind her. She leaned into the crib, kissing her niece on the forehead and whispering goodnight, before getting back up.

She turned around and spotted the masked man. She was about to scream when he placed a hand over her mouth and slammed her into the wall, avoiding the crib so he didn't wake the baby.

Hayden struggled to break free of his grip, but this man was strong. He held both her hands together with only one of his, and held the other over her mouth.

"Shut up, or I kill you and the baby, got it?"

Hayden just wanted this to be over with, and she didn't want Engel to get hurt. She had no idea what was going to happen, but thought it best to listen to the man holding her. She nodded, and the man pulled his hand away. He looked into her eyes for a moment as his hand went into his sweater pocket.

He pulled out a damp cloth and smirked.

"T-that's not... going to work on me..." Hayden stammered in fear as she looked at the cloth. "My regeneration abilities are through the roof. It might knock me out for a few minutes at the most..."

The mask man shrugged, stuffing the cloth back in his pocket before grabbing Hayden's face with his free hand.

"Alright then, change of plans," he smirked. "I don't want witnesses, and I'm sure the baby's not going to talk..."

The man pulled Hayden's face in closer to his, before throwing it back, slamming it into the hard wall. Hayden's eyes rolled back into her head as she fell limp.

The room was silent, so the sound of Hayden's head hitting the wall was loud for the sleeping baby and it woke her up. The masked man knew he had to hurry as Engel started to cry. As much as he wanted to take her as well, he knew he would have his hands full with the Aunt.

He decided to leave the baby. After all, he had a hostage, just a different one. He jumped out of the window and made a break for it, just as Samantha stepped into the room.

"Hey, Engel," Samantha called softly, finding it strange that she was alone, the window was open, and the nightlight was turned off. "What are you still doing awake, baby?"

She walked over to the crib, passing by the blood stain on the wall. She failed to notice it as she looked down at her daughter.

"Did Aunt Hayden leave too soon?" she cooed. She picked the infant up and began to rock her. "Shh, it's okay, Angel, Mommy's here."

-----RPM-----

"Pop, pop, pop," Ziggy encouraged the toaster as he stared at it, waiting for it to pop.

"A watched toaster doesn't pop," Dr. K told the L-Green Ranger as she walked out of the lab after a good night's sleep.

Ziggy turned to frown at Dr. K, and the toaster popped at that moment. He looked back, then looked at Dr. K. She smirked at him and laughed.

"Told you."

Ziggy turned back, grabbing his toast and a knife for the butter.

Dr. K looked around for her fellow mentor, but didn't see her anywhere.

"Um, Ziggy, has Kaylee gotten up at all this morning?" she asked.

"A watched person never..." Ziggy stopped, rethinking this statement in his head, realising his comeback was pathetic, "No..."

"She was up all night guarding the door," Flynn called from the breakfast table. Dr. K looked at him then turned her attention to the door, where Kaylee was sleeping soundly on a wooden chair beside it. "She passed out a few minutes ago."

Ziggy looked over at the door, realising his had missed his favourite mentor. He smiled and waved at her then remembered she was asleep.

"Right," he said, lowering his hand when Dr. K and Flynn gave him odd looks.

Summer was rubbing her eyes as she stepped into the garage, still in her pyjamas. She looked over at the boys and smiled, waving at Ziggy, before sitting down on the barstool.

Samantha came out of the nursery, holding baby Engel as she walked to the fridge for a bottle of milk. Summer frowned. Hayden was supposed to be caring for the baby.

"Where's Hayden?" she asked her older cousin. Samantha turned to the younger blond.

"Isn't she in the bedroom?"

"If she was, I wouldn't ask where she was, would I?" Summer laughed, though there was a hint of fear. Suddenly, both girls turned to Flynn with accusing looks. He threw his hands up and stepped back.

"The lass wasn't with me, I swear!"

Samantha had a horrible feeling in her gut. When she walked into the nursery that night, while Hayden was supposed to be watching her, Engel was screaming loudly and there was no one there to sooth her. Hayden wouldn't have walked out of the room and left the child to cry like that. And she hadn't gone to bed, so that meant she hadn't slept through it.

"Maybe she passed out somewhere and we just didn't see her," Ziggy shrugged.

Samantha nodded. That sounded right. After all, her sister had taken after her mother when it came to fainting episodes. She handed the baby to Ziggy and bolted to the nursery.

Ziggy held the baby as far away as possible, not too sure what to do with the young child. He was great with kids, when they were older, but Mrs. Williams had always been the one to care for the little babies.

"I got your nose...?" Ziggy said to Engel. She just looked up at him, with her big brown eyes, and frowned.

"She likes peek-a-boo," Summer whispered.

Ziggy nodded and started playing the game, while Summer turned to Flynn.

"You have no idea where Hayden is?"

"Hayden? Where?" Kaylee asked, waking from her sleep as soon as she heard her youngest daughter was missing. Flynn, Ziggy and Dr. K jumped at the sound of her voice, while Summer laughed.

"My mom does the same thing whenever dad mentions losing us," she smiled.

There was a sudden, high-pitched scream from the nursery that woke the rest of the Ranger team up. Everyone made their way to Engel's room and found Sam, standing in the middle of the room, hands over her mouth and tears running down her face as she stared at the wall behind the door.

Scott stepped into the room and closed the door slightly to see what had Samantha so freaked out. He started to panic when he saw the blood on the wall, slowly drying. He ran over to Samantha and pulled her into his arms, holding her close as her knees buckled.

Kaylee looked over at Dusting with a fearful look as he grabbed her. He felt a lump build up in his throat as he wondered who would be foolish enough to kidnap his baby girl.

"He's dead," Flynn frowned, clenching his fists so tight; his nail dug into his skin and drew blood. The only thing keeping him from going insane was knowing that Hayden couldn't die.

Then again, if her captor knew that, then Hayden would be in for hell.

"We have to figure out who this is," Mike growled, staring at the blood on the wall.

"Whoever it was, they were sloppy," Dr. K smiled, stepping further into the room and pointing to a trail of mud and dirt that led right to the window. She looked out and saw the camera was still sitting just outside, still intact and still pointed towards the window. "We caught him on tape."

"Come on," Greg frowned, "I'm not complaining or anything, but who does this guy think he is?"

"He's no James Bond," Dani agreed, "But thankfully he isn't."

Dr. K pulled out the tape from the camera and made her way across the room, while the others followed. She popped the tape into the TV and started playing it.

"Empty window, empty window, empty window," Ziggy narrated. Dr. K rolled her eyes, fast-forwarding the tape until they saw a blur move across the screen.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" everyone called to the small doctor as she fumbled to press the play button. She missed the part with the moving blur and was about to go back, but Dani piped up.

"Wait, look, right under the window!" she moved to the TV and pointed to a figure hanging from the windowsill.

"He's got a lot of upper strength, I'll give him that," Dillon laughed.

The Rangers continued watching the tape. They saw as the figure pulled himself into the room, then disappeared off the camera. All at once, the RPM team shouted for Dr. K to get the tape from the camera in the nursery.

Dr. K walked off, muttering something under her breath about knowing how to do her job and not needing to be told what to do by those who were less mentally developed.

While she was gone to get the tape, Samantha held onto her child. She could see the time on the bottom of the screen. It was 10:18 the previous night. That was when Hayden was in the room with Engel. She knew that, because at 10:30 she walked in to sooth the screaming baby. Knowing this person had come close to her daughter put the fear of God in her.

"This guy must have Hayden," Dustin stated, holding Kaylee in his arms as she stared at the screen, trying to find answers.

"Wait... Greg, fast forward this to 10:23," she told the young prodigy. Greg picked up the remote and moved the time on the tape. At 10:24, everyone saw someone crawling out of the window.

"Pause!" Kaylee yelled, and Greg hit the pause button quickly. Kaylee looked at the picture again, before running to the TV and pulling out the tape. She ran to the computer, put it in, and got to work on fixing the picture so she could get a better look.

Dr. K came down with the other tape in her hands and played its carting from 10:18. Just as expected, Hayden was in the room, whispering something to little Engel as the person walked up behind her.

Summer shivered in fear as she pulled in closer to Dillon. He wrapped his arms around her then turned to look at Flynn. He could see the Scotsman was hurting. He knew it couldn't be easy to watch as his girlfriend was taken right out from under his nose. The boys' bedroom was right beside the nursery and if Hayden screamed, he should have been able to hear it.

On the monitor, Hayden slowly stood up straight and turned around, only to come face to face with the intruder. He placed his hand over her mouth and pinned her against the wall. There was no audio, but Samantha could see the intruder's eyes as they continued to glance at Engel.

Who was this guy?

Suddenly, the intruder grabbed Hayden's face and slammed it into the wall, cracking her skull open which caused the stain on the wall. He slung her over his shoulder and bolted for the window.

The Rangers knew this was the end of the tape and ran over to Kaylee on the computer.

"Any luck?" Scott asked. Kaylee nodded.

"I've got a clear picture of his figure," she explained, and I've tried matching it to everyone who's ever entered the base. So far, it fits one person."

Kaylee turned her chair around and glanced at all the Rangers, making them uncomfortable.

Her eyes finally stopped on Scott, and she didn't need to say anything else for everyone to understand.

Scott shook his head, "It wasn't me! I couldn't have been me... I... I... Hayden's like a sister to me..."

The other Rangers just looked at him and Scott was nervous. He didn't do the crime, he knew he wasn't the guy and he had to get the suspicion away from him.

"Mike! It was Mike!" he said, pointing to the Bradley boy. "He's the same size as me, and he doesn't have the hair! How would I hide this?"

Scott gestured to the mass of hair on his head, bringing up a good point. All eyes turned to Michael.

"Why the hell would I kidnap my cousin?" Mike frowned. "If anyone would hate her, it would be Dillon."

"But Dillon's too big to be the intruder," Summer pointed out, defending her boyfriend, but Mike shook his head.

"The guy's wearing a sweater!" he pointed to the screen. "Really, it could be anyone under that massive piece of fabric! For all we know it... it... it could be Flynn!"

"Yeah, right," Flynn scoffed, waving the accusation off. "I love Hayden! I would never hurt her!"

"How do we know it's not some kind of Scottish tradition?" Dustin frowned, glaring at the young boy.

"How do we know you didn't do it?" Flynn growled upset he was being blamed for hurting the woman he loved. "You could be a father gone bad!"

"I would never hurt my daughter!" Dustin argued. "I would never hurt anyone."

"You've hurt me," Kaylee pointed out sheepishly. Dustin looked down at her as she brought up the memories of his time as Dai Shi's vessel. He couldn't believe she was using that against him. "Look, Dustin, I don't think it was you, but..."

"Then why pin the blame on me?" Dustin yelled, "I know I've had my fair share of mistakes before, but it's not like you're mother of the year, little miss stabs a lot!"

Kaylee gasped. She knew she was in the wrong by bringing up Dai Shi, but she couldn't believe Dustin was reminding her of the time she was under Venjix' influence and she stabbed her daughter.

"I wouldn't dare... I couldn't have done it!" Kaylee babbled, trying to clear her name. "I was guarding the door all night!"

"Yeah, but knows one knows if you stuck to your post," Dani said.

The arguing continued until everyone in the room had been blamed.

Scott and Mike were under suspicion because they had the same body type as the figure in the picture. But because of the sweater, no one was really sure if they could assume right with the figure. However, that wasn't enough to clear their name.

Flynn was a suspect because his name was thrown out there, and everyone knew he was capable of performing the stunts the intruder had done. He could overpower Hayden with ease and had enough strength to knock her out cold. He was also capable of lifting her over his shoulder and running out of the room.

Summer wasn't to blame in the slightest. Everyone agreed that she couldn't have kidnapped Hayden, because she couldn't even lift the younger girl over her shoulder; much less overpower her without getting some kind of scar or bruise.

Dillon was definitely a suspect. He had the size, strength and power to kidnap Hayden. Even without the Venjix hardware inside him and the added strength, he could easily knock Hayden out and leave. The fact that he was also the team's bad boy wasn't helping him.

Ziggy's name was clear. Like Summer, there was no way he could lift Hayden and carry her out the window, much less overpower her. Though he could fit the figure hiding under the sweater, there was no way he could be the guy.

Gregory had been accused as well. He wasn't strong like Dillon, Mike or Flynn, but he was smart. He could figure out how to do as the intruder had done and make it seem like a guy twice his size had done the crime.

Daniela's name was clear, at first, because she was shorter than the person on the tape. But the Rangers remembered it was 2027 and that there were ways of appearing taller. They also knew the camera angel could have helped. She was also strong and did possess the power to knock her cousin out. Suspicion wasn't as strong on her, but her name was definitely still there.

Dr. K hadn't even been mentioned. Not only was she tiny, but there was no way she could lift Hayden and carry her out, or even knock her out cold. She had no experience in hand to hand combat and if it came down to it, Hayden could easily wipe the floor with the doctor.

Gem and Gemma were accused. Both were stronger than Hayden and both were slightly... psychotic. It wouldn't have been much of a surprise if one of them was behind this whole thing.

Samantha was a suspect as well. She had been under a lot of stress lately, with the baby, and it could drive her to the point of committing such an act, especially when she pointed out that the person was eyeing Engel, giving reason for the rangers to assume the infant was the person's intended target. Samantha could have wanted to get rid of the child as a desperate attempt to get rid of her stress for good.

Ronny was accused as well, for much of the same reasons as her daughter. She was strong, and a possible suspect. Not everything linked together, but there was still a chance.

Dustin was under suspicion as well. Though he was Hayden's father, and had never raised a hand against her, he was strong enough to overpower her, knock her out and take her away. It was also the perfect crime. No one would suspect the loving father.

Not even Kaylee, the mother, could avoid being a suspect. She had hurt Hayden once in the past and even if she was under Venjix' control, everyone knew she had it in her. She was also stronger than her daughter. Taking her out and carrying her away wasn't an issue.

-----RPM-----

Hayden struggled against her captor as he carried her through an alley and into an abandoned home. Hayden had been conscious for a good portion of the night after the crack in her skull healed, and she had tried desperately to get out. She knew exactly where she was and could easily find her way to safety, if this jackass would just let go of her.

Her Aunt Kelly and Uncle RJ lived two streets over. Close enough for her to run if she got free, but still too far to hear her screaming for help.

There was no one else who could really help her in the area. It was the only commercial space in Corinth, and all the workers were still at home, getting ready for work. By the time this space would be occupied with people, Hayden was sure she was going to be restrained and gagged so they couldn't hear her.

"Who are you?" she asked her captor. He didn't answer her as he searched his pocket for the keys to the old house. Hayden sighed, "You might as well tell me."

The door swung open and Hayden felt herself being thrown to the ground. She whimpered in pain, cursing her powers for not stopping the sting this time. The captor slammed the door shut, keeping an eye on Hayden as he reached for some rope.

"Tell me who you are!" Hayden screamed before the person stepped on her stomach, pinning her down to the ground. The captor knelt down in front of her and pulled the damp cloth from his pocket.

"You want to know who I am?" the person laughed. The cloth was placed over Hayden's nose and mouth as she felt it take effect. The chloroform would not knock her out for long, but Hayden was assuming this person was using it to make restraining her much easier.

She looked up at her captor as the person pulled the mask of, revealing their face. Hayden gasped as she realised who it was, but passed out suddenly.


	51. Devil in Me

Hayden came to only a few moments after being knocked out, and found herself tied, with her arms over her head. The rope around her wrist was secured to the roof, holding her up straight.

There was nothing else holding her in place, or restraining her aside from around her wrists. Hayden tried pulling free, but the rope was so tied so that if she struggled, it just got tighter.

"Comfy?" her captor laughed, coming into the room.

"My friends will be here any minute now to take you down," Hayden snapped, glaring at her captor.

"Your friends would never guess it's me."

"Wanna bet?" Hayden frowned, "They'll figure you out. You'll get sloppy and they'll know it was you."

"Says you."

"You can't hide this from them forever!"

"Something tells me they're not even looking for you," her captor stepped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

-----RPM-----

Summer was getting tired of all the accusations. She couldn't watch her team turn against each other, especially when Hayden was missing.

"It wasn't me!" Dillon yelled to Flynn as the blue Ranger continued to glare at him.

There was a sudden knock at the door. Summer sighed in relief as she went to answer it. Just as she opened a door, she received a pie in the face. While the other Rangers tried not to laugh, Summer looked at the person in front of her.

"Kyle," she growled.

"Until Samantha agrees to come on one date with me, I'll be doing this every day," Kyle threatened.

"You can't!" Ziggy yelled with a look of fear on his face, "I'm allergic to peach! What if you hit me on the day you use peach pie?"

Dr. K turned to Ziggy and shook her head, "Is this seriously your biggest concern, Ziggy?"

"I could get hives!" Ziggy panicked.

Summer looked over at Kyle as he snickered. She knew it couldn't have been one of her friends, and he had left the base the previous day in a pretty angry mood. He would definitely have a motive for kidnapping Hayden.

Kyle saw Summer glaring at him and started to feel uncomfortable.

"What?" he asked.

"Is this seriously your plan?" she frowned, trying not to jump right to the point. After all, he could easily deny it. She needed to pull it out of him, without him knowing he was confessing. "You're going to throw pie in our faces?"

"It's the best I could come up with," Kyle shrugged, "You try being an Angel from childhood! This is my biggest prank so far! I can do no wrong!"

"Look, Kyle," Samantha started. Kyle looked over at her and noted that she was tense. He could tell from the look in her eyes and her body language that she was pissed off. He stepped back. Samantha continued, "I have a boyfriend. I will not, in any circumstance, cheat on him, by going on a date with you, especially when I have no idea where my sister... ran off to."

Samantha quickly changed her last few words. She didn't want Kyle to know her sister had been kidnapped, and it was already too late to shut up. She didn't want him to be the one asking questions.

"She ran off?" Kyle asked. "Why?"

"I... uh... I've been neglecting her lately," Samantha lied. "I think she's just trying to get my attention."

Kyle looked at the other Rangers. He could see them giving each other looks. It was strange to see the Ranger team like this. They were normally so close. Kyle would have assumed that they would be holding each other and comforting each other out if one of them was lost.

"So, there's no date, unless she comes back?" Kyle frowned.

"There's no date, ever," Samantha growled. "Not ever; not never."

"Well, what if I help you guys find Hayden?" Kyle suggested, "I'm an Angel, and I know this town like the back of my hand! I could easily find her where you guys wouldn't imagine to look!"

"NO!" Samantha barked.

"Not even a hero's dinner?" Kyle pressed, "A thank you?"

"Kyle, you do remember you had me at one point, right?" Samantha stated, "You remember a few months back, when I would have loved to go out to dinner with you? Do you remember flirting with other women while you had me?"

"They were hot!" Kyle smiled, extending his fist so he could bump with Scott. The red Ranger growled at the boy.

"You made me feel inferior. I don't want to go there again. You can save anyone's life, but I will never get back together with you."

"It's because he's a Ranger, right?" Kyle asked, pointing to his ex girlfriend's current love. "You like men with power?"

"Just, get lost," Samantha frowned.

"What if I showed you I was strong too?" Kyle continued. "I mean, I'm an Angel! I have power! I- I..."

"Leave!" Samantha yelled, pushing her ex out the door and slamming it in his face.

With Kyle gone, the Rangers all looked at one another with accusing looks. Summer turned to Ziggy and Dr. K with a worried look, thinking they were going to start arguing again.

Suddenly, they all huffed and turned, retreating into different rooms so they didn't have to be with the "friends" who accused them of a crime they didn't commit.

The three who hadn't been accused breathed a huge sigh of relief as the accused walk away.

"This, my friends, is bad," Ziggy pointed out. Summer looked at him, ready to give him an annoyed or strange look, but she nodded instead. He was right; they were in a bad position. Hayden was gone, everyone was being accused, all of them denied they were the ones, and no one was really focused on going to find Hayden.

When it came down to it, they would all rather clear their name instead of finding the pink Ranger.

"I guess we should let them come to their senses?" Ziggy suggested. Dr. K nodded. No way was she going to get in any of the Rangers' way while they were in such a state.

"We can't wait," Summer sighed, "Who knows where Hayden is?"

"She can't die though," Ziggy reminded the blonde, trying to stay positive.

"Ziggy, haven't you learned, she can't die, but she can get hurt! And, on top of all that, her powers only keep her from injury for too long, and it's simply physical. Whoever's out there, if he's hurting her..."

"It could affect her psychologically," Dr. K finished.

"I know... I'm just, trying to... not be... not look down, you know?" Ziggy sighed.

Flynn walked out of his room with anger written all over his face. As much as he wanted to hide from the people accusing him of hurting his own girlfriend, he knew he had to find her.

He looked around the room, "Where's everyone else?"

Ziggy shrugged, "They left, just like you."

Flynn growled, but calmed himself down. He hoped the others would come out soon as well. After all, if they really were innocent, like they all claimed to be, they had no reason to hide.

"Look, guys, you have to believe me when I say I didn't do it," Flynn told the others. "I honestly would never hurt..."

"I know," Ziggy smiled, patting his friend on the back. "And I don't think you did it. I don't really think any of us did it."

"Everyone does have a reason for doing it, though."

"Yeah, but they have a reason for not doing it as well," Ziggy said. "I mean, sure Scott and Mike fit the body type, but for as long as I've known Mike, he's always been protective of Hayden. Why would he change now? He's got no reason!"

Summer nodded. While she agreed all her friends were innocent, she didn't exactly have proof. She let Ziggy continue with his theory.

"And what reason does Scott have? Daddy issues at the most! Why would he take that out on Hayden? It wouldn't make sense!"

"Well, she does have a great relationship with her father," Dr. K pointed out. Ziggy shook it off though.

"Even at that, there's no way you can hide that kind of hair under a ski mask! It would... poof!"

"So, you're saying Scott's innocent on account of poofy hair?" Dr. K asked. Ziggy nodded.

"Yeah," he said, as if it was obvious. Dr. K just nodded.

"Whatever."

Ziggy continued with his rant, "Anyways, Dillon..."

"He hates her," Dr. K stated simply. Summer shook her head.

"He treats her like his little sister," she argued. "A lot of older brothers act cold, but in reality, they care."

Ziggy nodded, "I don't think he would have hurt Hayden, especially not like that, only because she gets on his nerves."

"A good sucker punch, maybe," Summer laughed.

"Now, who was next on the list?" Ziggy smiled, "Gregory. Why the hell was he accused again?"

"He's capable of doing it?" this was more of a guess as Summer tried to remember all the crazy reasons her friends were accused.

"But again, why?" Ziggy asked. "Every criminal needs a reason to for their crime, whether it makes sense or not. Greg doesn't have a reason."

"But we must remember, Samantha said the criminal was eyeing Engel. If she's right, our theories could be wrong."

"Well, Mike's her father, and I know he wouldn't hurt her," Summer said. "He loves that kid to death... okay not the right word, but you get it."

"And Dillon's a good guy," Ziggy smiled. "He may seem tough, but really, he's... he's... like a bunny!"

Summer laughed, but she had to agree with Ziggy. She knew who Dillon was when he let down his walls.

"To sum it all up," Summer chuckled, "Everyone has a reason to hurt Hayden, or Engel! But they also have a bunch of reasons not too."

Flynn nodded, "I guess this all got a little out of hand. But the only reason I blamed someone else was because I panicked. I didn't have a reason to call Dustin out."

"How about, we stop worrying about that, and try and locate Hayden?" Dr. K suggested.

Flynn started pacing, "Why would someone take her, though? Doesn't everyone know she's invincible? It would take a lot to leave a mark on her, never mind kill her!"

"Power?" Dr. K suggested, "Much like the power Kyle believes he needs to win Samantha's heart."

"It wouldn't be Kyle though, would it?" Summer asked. She looked at the other three in the room with her. "I mean, he did say he was an Angel and that throwing pie in someone's face was the worst thing he's done."

"Aside from cheating on Samantha," Flynn pointed out. "I'm sure that's worst that pie in the face."

"Hey, Angels can do some pretty mean things," Ziggy said. "I mean, Samantha's done some pretty nasty stuff to me. She froze my underwear, put my hand in warm water while I slept, and splashed my pants with water when I was trying to get the ladies..."

As Ziggy rambled on, Summer, Flynn and Dr. K got the same idea.

"... put a worm in my apple..."

"Ziggy, you can stop now," Summer smiled as Dr. K ran to the computer.

"But I wasn't done," Ziggy frowned.

"Zigster, you were right. Samantha was born an Angel, and she's capable of being a devil! Why couldn't Kyle?" Flynn smirked. "Either he's really a good guy, which wouldn't make sense because of what he did to Sam, or he lied about the pie in the face."

"And if he lied," Summer continued, "That would mean he has something to hide!"

"Something like...?" Ziggy frowned. Moments ago he was the man with the answers. How did it switch around to him not knowing where anyone was going?

"Let me explain, Ziggy," Dr. K smirked, keeping her words simple for Ziggy's small mind, "If Kyle was innocent of the crime, he wouldn't see the need to lie about this being the worst thing he's done, because it would never cross his mind that we may come to the conclusion that he's behind Hayden's kidnapping. Add in the factor that we didn't even tell him Hayden had been removed from the Ranger base by force, he wouldn't have to worry about ever being under some kind of suspicion."

"And you thought my hair theory was insane," Ziggy frowned. Flynn patted him on the back.

"Why would he lie if he's innocent of a crime he didn't even know had been committed?"

"He could be trying to show Samantha he's changed," Ziggy proposed. Summer found a way to shoot it down, bringing a huge smile to his face.

"He said, and I quote: '_You try being an Angel from childhood! This is my biggest prank so far! I can do no wrong_'," Summer said. "If he can do no wrong, he and Samantha would still be together, because he wouldn't have been flirting with other women while dating her!"

"So he's bullshitting us," Ziggy grinned.

"It's a valid theory," Dr. K nodded, typing away. "I've taken note on our observations and I'm sending it through the morphers to the others. Hopefully they'll come out when they realise the truth."

"Until then," Flynn said, holding his morpher tight, "We go out and..."

"Where do you think she is, Flynn?" Dr. K asked, stopping the blue Ranger in his tracks. "We're still not sure if Kyle is behind this. And even if he was, we don't know where he is, and if he still has Hayden with him. I suggest you remain here while I locate her."

"Flynn, it would be for the best," Summer said, knowing it would take a little convincing for Flynn to stay back and wait while his girlfriend was missing. "Why don't we go and train?"

"Yeah, buddy," Ziggy smiled, running ahead.

"I'll set up the punching bag for you," Summer laughed, pulling her friend along.

-----RPM-----

"I can be strong," Hayden's captor mumbled to himself as he walked into the abandoned house, throwing a pie tray aside. "I can be so much stronger than that stupid Red Ranger!"

He walked into the room he was holding Hayden in. Her head snapped up when she heard his footsteps and she glared at him.

"Look whose home," she said, faking her excitement. Her captor picked up on it and frowned.

"Invincibility really makes you cocky, doesn't it?" he said.

"What do you want with me?" Hayden asked. "I've done nothing to you... well I did spam text you."

"It's not you I want," her captor grinned balling his right fist and grabbing Hayden's hair in his left hand. He lifted her head as he punched her in the stomach. Hayden tried curling over in pain, but with her hands tied above her head, and her head being held up by her captor's hand, she could barely move to comfort herself. She groaned in pain as her captor let go of her head and laughed. She looked up at him and frowned.

"Try doing it again," she said. "It didn't hurt."

She had lied about it not hurting, but she knew the next time would surely be numb. Her powers would definitely kick in and she would be immune to the pain.

Her captor did as she asked, hitting her in the stomach again. Hayden grinned, feeling nothing.

Her captor saw this and was no happy. The reason he took her was to prove to her sister that he was strong and powerful. He was the only person capable of killing the invincible pink power Ranger! But his plan seemed to be backfiring. She wasn't feeling pain.

He hit her again and Hayden groaned again. She had felt that one and it hurt. She started to cough as she was punched repeatedly.

Suddenly, she felt his fist hit her in the chest, knocking the breath out of her, just before he hit her again in the stomach. Hayden felt as if she was going to pass out before throwing up. Her captor laughed as his foot came up, hitting Hayden in the side. She flew to the wall, before her restraints pulled her back.

"Does it hurt?" he laughed, tapping Hayden's cheek, gently, but after the beating she had received, it felt like he was slamming the side of her face with a sledgehammer.

"You're such a jackass," Hayden hissed. She could feel her injuries healing, but knew that wasn't going to stop him. She knew that she was at his mercy. As long as she healed, he could attack her like he had just done, and he could do so endlessly.

"I'll be back tomorrow," he smiled before stepping out. Hayden looked up and pulled on her restraints until she couldn't feel her wrists. She screamed and looked at the door.

"KYLE!" she yelled, hoping her captor would come back inside. "KYLE! LET ME GO!"


End file.
